The City of Saints
by hylian
Summary: AU. Set in Montreal, Canada. Naomi and her best friend Will were part of a graffiti crew until their hobby led to an unfortunate death. Naomi struggles to move on, but a certain someone is there to push her past all the limits she's created for herself.
1. Chapter 1

**Sooo. Right, uh. First and foremost, I've never done anything like this. Like, writing a story and maybe this entire idea is a bit too ambitious for someone inexperienced, but fuck it. **

**Basically, this is completely AU, and is set in Montreal, Canada. Figured I'd give Skins a nice little twist. It's also a little easier for me, since that is indeed where I am located. All the slang, locations, whatever are different to what you usually see, most likely. The locations are extremely specific. But do not fret, for every area mentioned, at the bottom there will be a link and maybe a tiny explanation of what/where that place is. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask, I'd be happy to fill in the blank. **

**Lastly, this might have a complete lack of direction so yeah, have a go.**

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She lowered herself down onto the curb and felt around her coat pockets, attempting to locate her pack of riggs. Her brow furrowed as she furiously swept her hands over the same tiny compartments, her hazy brain currently not able to process the fact that they were just not there. The woman only halted her search when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She tilted her head up and squinted into the dark, trying to decipher who it was. A familiar, rough voice crept into her ear, "I think you're looking for these." and like magic, a pack of cigarettes landed in her lap.

Her lips curled at the edges as she hastily grasped at the cardboard edge of the box and ripped it open, momentarily stunned by the glorious smell, before tapping the bottom of the box so that two fell out. The man sat himself beside her, immediately reaching for the second cigarette, he grinned "I knew you'd be feeling generous." He watched as she sparked her own and waited for her to pass the lighter. Instead, she lifted it and made a show of closely inspecting it before jerking her hand back and throwing it as far as her shaky arm would permit. She turned and studied the boy beside her and smirked at the slight disbelief in his expression.

"What the fuck was that?" he asked as he craned his neck to look in the general direction of where it seemed to have landed.

"Shouldn't have dragged me here, Cook. It's your fault I'm having such a shit time." she sucked on the end of her rigg and dramatically exhaled the smoke to make it look like the single most satisfying inhale she'd ever taken.

Cook pushed himself off of the ground and chucked the stolen cigarette at Naomi's face, "Fuck off, if you'd even try you'd be having as much of a good time as the rest of us." Her face adopted a sceptical look, she began to retort but was cut off by a third figure stumbling out of the club. The person looked up and smiled widely when she realised she'd interrupted an argument among her two friends. Jumping to conclusions, she asked "Is Naomi being a Debbie Downer again?".

Cook laughed loudly and nodded his head and glanced at Naomi. She sighed and picked herself off the floor and scowled "Alright," she watched as the third person swayed and attempted to right herself by taking hold of a no parking pole "at least I don't look like I've got spaghetti legs, Katie."

Katie shrugged, ignoring the blonde's weak dig, "Whatever, I called a cab…So if you want a ride just tag along." Cook nodded his head in agreement but Naomi shook her head, "Nah, I'll just walk from here. Need some time to sort myself out."

She began walking backwards and waved slightly before turning completely and leaving the location that always seemed to cause problems. She'd been forced to a night out by Cook, exclaiming that she was spending way too much time doing work for college and not enough time getting hammered. She'd agreed, since he was right and she hadn't been to a proper party in a while. She should have known going to greasy Foufs with its cheap, gross beer on Saturday nights was a shit idea. Actually, going anywhere that involves large amounts of alcohol with her group of friends was always a bad idea. Sure, it always started out fun but no one was ever able to control their drunken word vomit.

Tonight, the blow up was entirely her fault. She sent Emily fleeing for the club doors and she hadn't even been there for 5 minutes. She didn't know why she acted like a fucking insensitive knob or why she decided that it would be okay to say something derogatory regarding her friend's sexuality. It's not even like she herself was completely s- "Hey, wanna join us? Want a bit of work?"

She looked up at the voice that had disturbed her inner monologue and rolled her eyes. She looked a bit behind the suit clad man and that elicited another eye roll. Behind him was a sign that read 'DANSEUSES NUES'.

"Right, let me just go dispose of my dignity and I'll come right back.", she continued walking, still hearing the man grumbling obscenities under his breath.

After a few more turns, she finally arrived in front of her apartment. She lit up another cigarette before entering and observed her surroundings. Nothing too interesting. A homeless man with a bunch of dogs wandered passed her and smiled. Her lips twitched up in what she hoped was a friendly smile and she silently wondered where and how he got his companions. She flicked her cigarette away before directing a greeting toward the man. He turned to her, his face sporting a questioning look and she continued, "Hold on a second, alright?" He nodded and bent down to pat one of his friends on the head.

Naomi ran up the stairs and quickly unlocked the door to her home. Grabbing a bag, she quickly began shoving anything she thought she wouldn't need into the bag. Clothes that could be worn by both genders, food and lastly, she grabbed some money and shoved it into one of the pockets of a sweater she didn't need. She raced back downstairs and offered the bag to the man. She silently deemed him Willem, because he had a similar hat to the one Will always wore.

Will had been somewhat of a brother to her. He adored graffiti. She'd often trespassed with him on properties to help him create his art. One night, they'd been painting just off a main highway and they somehow hadn't heard an oncoming train. She realised only last minute that it was close. She'd tried to grab Will but he shook her off, not realising that he was in danger. She stumbled off the railway and fell onto her stomach. She turned just in time to see the impact. He was killed instantly. She sat in the same position, immobile, for what felt like hours before an ambulance arrived. Someone must have seen what had happened. He was taken away and she was rushed to the hospital to be checked for injuries and treated for shock.

She must have completely zoned out because when her memories dissolved into the unsure fog that they usually were, Willy was waving his hand in front of her face. She grimaced at the unpleasant smell that the close proximity brought and he laughed, "Sorry about that, can't really help it. Are you okay?" "Yeah, thanks I just got a little lost. I should really get inside. See you around." He looked baffled at the abrupt dismissal and hurriedly thanked her before she got away.

The blonde climbed the stairs for the second time that night, but when she got inside, she locked the door and didn't bother changing her clothes. She settled herself on the couch and turned the television on. The background noise was comforting and it lulled her to sleep within minutes.

Every thought before her brain shut down was about Will.

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**Okay, here is the list of locations:**

**a) First one mentioned is 'Foufs', the entire name is actually Foufounes Électriques and it's a bar that often has many different bands playing and whatnot going down aaand on Saturday night it has this beer for a buck thing. I actually like it there.  
**

**b) Secondly, the strip club, which is a little walk down from Foufs is Kama sutra Club. Really creative, that name. Don't have a photo, but I've often walked past there with some friends and there are seedy, creepy people trying to get us inside. Mmmm. **

**c) Third, the apartment that Naomi lives in, is called Place du Cercle.**

**I've never actually been in there, but I know there's a metro station attached underneath and that is really convenient for the story.**

**City of Saints is one of the many nicknames for Montreal. So, let me know what you think, if I should bother to continue, constructive criticism, whatevs.**

**Peace.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Whhut uuuup. I finished this chapter in a class where I was actually supposed to be paying attention. Why is it that when you try to concentrate when you have nothing else to do, it never works? But when you actually have work to do, a story idea seems to rear it's huge head? **

**_HyperFitched, _Thanks for your review. It's fucking awesome that you've been here before and liked it. You can't believe how many times I've gone over the name of that bar and wondered why they would name it that. The storyline for Will was actually inspired by 3 guys who were killed the same way just a little over a week ago. Some people I know knew them and they were completely gutted. and the newspapers and news reports were referring to them as vandals and whatever. So it's like paying my respects to them in a way. Again, thanks for dropping a review :)_  
_**

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Naomi's slumber was disturbed by the single most irritating ring tone she'd ever had the displeasure of hearing. She staggered off the couch, almost falling flat on her face and located her jacket. She cursed whoever thought it would be funny to change her settings while she left her phone unoccupied and answered.

"What?"

"Well you're really pleasant in the morning. You're supposed to be somewhere by now."

"Where?"

"Perceptive, as always. You had an English lesson at 10 this morning. Now I'm stuck in this shit hole on my own, having to get through the most boring class I ever signed up for."

Naomi lifted her hand, rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Fuck, sorry. I will be in soon."

"Heard things didn't go so well last night…"

"You could say that."

"What did you do?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, I feel stupid enough as is, Eff."

"That's fine. I have a pretty good idea of what happened. Must be the same as every other time you've fucked things up, yeah?"

"Shove off, asscake."

"Only if you're the icing."

Naomi smirked and hung up. She fixed her phone's settings then made her way to the bathroom. After taking a quick shower and throwing on some clothes, she grabbed her bag and made her way to the lower level of the apartment that allowed her to enter the metro. She caught the train and took a seat near a window, leaning her head against the glass.

While looking around she made awkward, accidental eye contact with strangers and then hastily looked away, hoping that they didn't think she was purposefully staring at them. The train stopped to let off and pick up more people. Her heart stopped when she noticed someone with hair coloured a shade of red that was rather familiar. In slow motion, the girl turned and Naomi assumed that the girl's gaze eventually landed on herself. She couldn't be sure, because before the redhead had rotated completely, Naomi had averted her eyes and looked out the window to examine the really interesting dark tunnel the train was currently speeding through. Her foot bounced on the floor with nerves and she fiddled with the collar of her shirt whilst she blindly willed her eyes to find something comforting to latch onto. A few moments passed and she felt a presence beside her.

"You know, it's really rude to pretend you haven't seen me."

The blonde cringed and lifted her blue eyes to peer at Emily like a dog being scolded. Emily took the seat situated beside the blonde and continued, "Thought you'd have more of a back bone considering the bold statements you shared last night."

"I…I didn't…"

"You didn't mean it? So, what? You call people rug muncher, bulldyke and scissor slut for fun? Sweet, I should try that."

Naomi flinched at every repeated blasphemous term that had barged it's way out of her cowardly mouth the night before. The redhead persisted.

"Though, I think the most uncreative one you said was my favourite. What was it? Clitty-licker? Cunt wagon? Slut muffin?"

"Okay! Christ, I fucking get it. I'm a hypocrite. Thanks, I know. I am completely aware."

"You should stop worrying."

Naomi looked down, "Yeah."

"Anything else waiting to spill from that mouth of yours?", Emily dipped her head to try and make eye contact with the blond. She succeeded. The uncertainty amongst their sole connection almost tangible. Naomi looked away when she felt the mirror behind her eyes was about to crack. She wouldn't allow that to happen. _Deflect. Deflectdeflectdeflect_. It was enough that she was about to suck it up and apologise for the thousandth time.

"I'm sorry."

"That's what I thought."

"I mean it."

"You always do."

"Yeah, but…"

"It's okay. I've become accustomed to it."

"You shouldn't be."

"Too late. Anyway, it's time to get off."

Emily stood and waited for Naomi to do the same. They exited the train and walked up the one flight of stairs that separated them from the entrance to their college.

While weaving through the masses of people blocking the main entrance because they clearly had nothing better to do than stand near the doors, Naomi spotted Effy. Or rather, Effy spotted both Naomi and Emily but chose to stare at them instead of alerting them to her presence.

"Hey." Naomi stood in front of the brunette, but Effy didn't acknowledge her. She was busy studying Emily who was lagging behind, practically getting trampled by the oblivious crowd.

"She looks a bit troubled."

"If I was getting flattened by a bunch of elephants, I would look troubled too. It's like Simba and the wildebeest all over again."

Effy finally addressed Naomi in the form of a raised eyebrow. "You're really good at avoiding things."

"I know, how do you think I got past all those wildebeest?"

Before Effy could respond, a flustered Emily finally erupted from the build up of people, "Thanks, I really appreciate that you left me to die out there."

Naomi attempted to hide her grin and said "Oops." She was forced to take a step back as the redhead shoved her shoulder. "You could have navigated me through that crowd, you know? I usually use you as a periscope."

The girls worked their way into the atrium of the school. Just as they were about to split up to attend their respective lectures, Emily overtook Naomi and stood as tall as she could, blocking Naomi's path. The blond looked on wearily, awaiting a request that she would most likely be easily coerced into fulfilling.

Emily smiled, a compelling twinkle resided in her eye, "Come to the gazebo with me."

If Effy heard the invitation, she acted none the wiser. She drifted off towards a different direction.

"Emily…I have class in a few minutes and I've already missed one today."

The redhead's smile grew, "You and I both know that the course you so willingly want to sit through is full of shit."

Naomi couldn't hold her reaction back. She laughed. This slip up lead her to accepting Emily's proposal, so they made their way through the maze of corridors and exited through one of the many back doors of the school.

She watched as Emily skipped across the parking lot excitedly, triggering a smile to conquer the frown that often adorned her face. Emily moved to the table at the center of the gazebo. Her mouth opened in surprise as her gaze focussed on the table, "Wow, people here are really creative."

Naomi's forehead wrinkled, "What?" She glanced down and let out a bark of laughter. Someone had drawn a shape resembling a backside around the hole in the middle of the table meant for an umbrella. There was an arrow pointing to the crater with the writing "Laura's asshole" preceding it.

"Well, that wasn't there last time we were here."

Emily took a seat at the impressive display of artistic skill and said "I'm sure that Laura is really happy about having this wonderful masterpiece in her honour."

They shared a laugh and Naomi sat down. Silence ensued. The blonde contemplated her surroundings. The rotunda-like structure's paint had turned brittle and was chipping off. Leaves were scattered across its octagonal platform and she couldn't help but notice that the majority of the crinkled masses were a deep red. She found it incongruous that the most beautiful state that they reached was also the time that they shrivelled up like lifeless insects. Perhaps they only lived for the moment when their roots became too weak to keep hold of their wooden sanctuary and they flaked off; for the moment when it's time for them to glide through the air and attempt to steer themselves exactly where they wanted to land. She felt a surge of excitement barrage her spine as she imagined the wind blowing them off course.

"Naomi?", the blonde snapped out of her reverie and turned towards Emily. She noticed a breeze fluttering its way across them from behind. It made Emily's hair whip around her face and it struck Naomi as a balefire. It felt as though the air was purposely pushing her closer to the little firecracker. She derailed her train of thought just as it took an alarming turn.

"What are you thinking about?"

Her blank blue eyes finally met Emily's curious stare. She felt that Emily's eyes were trying to unearth a secret residing deep in her mind. It felt akin to her kind neighbours knocking gently on her bedroom wall due to the vibrations and time signatures emanating from her own solitary room that were threatening to blow the structure away completely. Naomi hardened her gaze and kept on staring.

Brown continued to wrestle blue into yielding. Naomi chose to respond.

"I'm thinking…that we are both in serious need of coffee."

Emily's eyes dimmed and she squinted. "Alright."

Naomi considered this another small victory.

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**a) The metro station they arrived at, then the entrance within the station [b)] connected to the college.**

**http :/ / www .flickr . com /photos /41187064 **_[there's suppose to be one of those "at" signs here, but it keeps getting deleted. so just rid it of the blanks and shove the sign before the N]_** N03 /3804731167 /**

**http :/ / 2. bp. blogspot. com/ _ie0m0q3qNqM /R0IHe1IyBPI /AAAAAAAAAHY /a3pKlnTBFyk /s400 /dawson _forblog . jpg**

**c) The college itself, formerly a nunnery. Cool fax~**

**http :/ / upload. wikimedia. org/ wikipedia/ commons/ e/ e5/ Dawson _College . jpg**

**d) I was really excited when I found an actual picture of this. THE gazebooooo**

**http :/ / www .flickr . com /photos /appaloosa /3553110874 /**

**and just for the giggles: http :/ / www .flickr . com/ photos/ emineau/ 4963529/**

**Oh and just wanted to say, obviously none of the photos displayed are ever taken by me.**

**Peace.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay so, this chapter is a huge improvement over the last two. I really...got into the groove. So. Happy reading. That was pretty lame, I agree. Also, I'm not really sure how this is being received at this point, so any word would be great loool**

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_Will began with a light jog and eventually transitioned into an unfaltering run. He took one last long stride and vaulted into the air. His arms reached above his head and his strong hands grasped onto the metal ladder. He anticipated the drop that his full weight would cause and he wrenched himself up, elbows digging into his thighs as he tucked his legs clumsily into his chest. The ladder plummeted towards the ground until it came to a startling stop that sent Will flying to the floor from the momentum._

_A chortle of laughter was heard as it pierced the thick night air, "That was really graceful. You almost landed in a puddle."_

"_Oh shut up. You wouldn't even be getting up here if it wasn't for me." Will stood, pulling his dark blue tuque back onto his head, covering his dark brown locks. He plucked the remaining dirt from his sweater and let out a huff. "Where's the bag?"_

_Naomi pushed herself off the red brick wall and swung the pack around her front. She tapped it with a sly smile and Will grinned, "Sweet, let's go."_

_The boy shuffled up the ladder, sometimes purposely stopping for an undetermined amount of time just to pester the girl below him. Will reached the first platform of the emergency exit and stretched his long arm to help Naomi up the rest of the way. She smacked his hand away and strained her two shorter limbs to pull herself up. They made eye contact for a few seconds before the blonde blinked and opened her mouth to speak. She let out a low "Race you.", and bolted around Will up the remaining flights of stairs. Will quickly recovered from the abruptness of the challenge and took to the steps two at a time. He easily caught up to Naomi and clasped his hands around whatever parts of her sweater he could reach. Naomi's arms flailed out as her balance was disturbed by Will's grip, but she moved her right arm forward and slammed it into his side. He let out a wheezy "Shit!" and she reciprocated with a childish laugh. She scurried up the remaining steps and stomped her foot in triumph when she reached the highest point of the steel framework._

_Will ambled up the stairs clutching his side and complained, "That was so cheap."_

_Naomi tilted her head, displayed a toothy smile and bowed arrogantly._

"_Okay Nai Nai, let's get you and this bag on the goddamn rooftop." _

"_I told you not to fucking call me that."_

"_Sucks to be you. Now, come on, get to climbin'"_

_Will bent down slightly and hooked his hands together to create a makeshift step. Naomi lifted her left foot and placed it on his hands. Will hoisted the blonde up and she threw herself onto the edge of the building. She ended up slightly missing the landing and was hunched over the edge like she was about to exit a swimming pool. Leaning forward, she shifted her weight towards the upper end of her body so she would not fall backwards. She gripped the gravel of the surface, let out a puff of annoyance and allowed her leg to reach out to try and kick Will because she'd heard him snickering. "Will you shut the fuck up and help me the rest of the way, you turd." _

"_Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a bunch." Will seized the general area of Naomi's hips and forced her up the rest of the way before climbing the side of the rail and elevating himself onto the roof. _

"_I'm sure you had fun feeling me up just now."_

"_Don't be so full of yourself. Gangly girls aren't really my type."_

"_Fuck off."_

_They moved together, Naomi wrapping her sweater tighter around her body. Her breath could be seen rising into the night air and she purposely puffed out a few more breaths to watch it drift lazily up until it vanished. Will was dawdling beside her, concentrating on the graffiti from people who'd already visited that same place. "Fucking sick, you see that one?" Naomi turned towards the square structure on the rooftop that had a door and looked where Will was pointing. "Yeah, what about it?" It didn't seem like anything special, just a quick throw-up that spelled out 'Stoney'. "I'm pretty sure that is Freddie's." Naomi looked a bit closer, "I wonder if he's referring to actually getting stoned or being love struck by one Effy Stonem." _

"_I'm thinking a bit of both. Probably thought he was being clever or something."_

"_He has always been so poetic."_

"_Moving on, let's paint the fucking town red."_

_**ooo**  
_

_They finished the piece within two hours, with Will painting surreptitiously and Naomi lying flat on her stomach at the edge of the building to make sure that whenever someone passed by the alley, Will ceased spraying. They were exceeding cautious due to the fact that they had almost gotten caught when Will was marking a different district with the same piece. They knew this area well and police patrol was not an uncommon activity._

_They loaded the leftover cannons back into the bag made their way discreetly down the same stairs they'd gone up previously. Naomi stepped gingerly down the staircase, but accidentally stepped in the puddle from earlier. Water immediately flooded the entire shoe and she blurted "Fuck!"_

"_What the hell is your problem?", Will hushed from behind._

"_I just stepped in that shitty puddle from before!"_

_Just at that moment, voices were heard calling out. Their heads whipped around and they waited with bated breath and wild eyes for the sources of the noises to reveal themselves. Will shook himself out of his stupor and yanked Naomi's arm. "Let's not find out if it's patrol again." He dragged her a few feet before she retracted her arm from his hold and sped up. They ran down the tiny alley, the pounding from their feet matching the thrilled, erratic pumping of their hearts. Echoing authoritative roars floated into their ears and they almost didn't hear them over the sound of blood rushing within their bodies. They just kept running._

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Sometimes she mused that it was Will who taught her how to run away from any and every difficult situation so seamlessly. That hadn't been the only time that they'd ended up lost and wandering through the city. They'd often run so far and for so long, that when they finally stopped, they were nowhere near where they had been initially. At these times, they'd explored the city, even if it was raining, snowing or almost as humid as a tropical rain forest. They'd ploughed on and never looked back, discovering qualities that they liked and disliked about themselves, each other and the world around them.

Most of the time, Will would see beauty in everything. He would notice people helping others in need and the charm in a single flower petal. Contrarily, Naomi would notice the gruff, dismissive man waving his hands in annoyance at a beggar condescendingly and how only one dejected flower was wilting, while the others around it stood tall and seemed to face away from the despairing blossom. Whenever they swapped views, he would shake his head at her pessimistic outlook and smile at her none the less.

He used to tell her that he always ran because it was exhilarating, but that he knew when to stop. He was allowed running because he knew when it wasn't okay and when he stopped it was because he wanted to experience things like loss and love. He knew when to just let himself fall into the fire. He said that's where they differed. He would stop and she would always keep running. She thought him wise for his short 18 years. It could have been because he was two years her senior, however, she still thinks that he was wiser than she'll ever grow to be.

She was certain that she had experienced loss. When she was old enough to realise her father had upped and left herself and her mother for no good reason and when Will died.

The year Will lost his life, she'd graduated high school and had spent her seventeenth birthday holed up in her bedroom with a ton of weed. She then decided not to apply to college. Instead, she fucked around for an entire year before her mom forced her to get a job and apply to a programme in CEGEP. Now, she was 19, in her last semester of environmental studies and living in an expensive apartment that her mum was helping pay for. She didn't think her life was particularly awful. But then why did she constantly feel like there was a supernova going on in her chest that was blowing every ounce of emotion away, only bringing it back to dangle it in front of her heart, before sucking it away completely?

There was one other person aside from Will that made her feel like she was allowed to collapse from the weight in her chest.

Emily. The girl she continuously kept shoving away. Every time she was sure that Emily wouldn't grasp the ropes around the ring for another go, she would confidently pull herself up and raise her balled fists in retaliation. It's like she was always looking for a way to provoke Naomi into showing some form of affection. Of course, the blonde

would fall for it every time, but would always pull back at the last second so that Emily could fall forward with blinding trust, her tiny frame slamming onto the floor because the blonde would always disappear. Always. She wondered how long the redhead would be able to keep up before her breaking point was reached.

The last time she'd seen her was when they had that coffee earlier in the week. It was probably extremely obvious to Emily that Naomi only extended that offer to appease her and keep her from asking questions. Their topics of strained conversation had ranged from the blonde's dull job in a grocery store to…nothing with substance or importance. Not that the job that occupied a lot of Naomi's time was really important either. Basically, their conversation wasn't very stimulating. But that was done on purpose.

This time, her train of thought was stalled by a knock on her door. Naomi stretched her back before standing since she had been hunched over a picture of herself and Will for a long period of time. She lazily dragged her feet along the carpet and eventually reached the door just as another knock sounded. "Shut the fuck up already…" she trailed under her breath as her hand reached for the knob. She heaved the door open and revealed Freddie, Cook and JJ. Cook was wearing his usual shit-eating smile, JJ looked mildly frightened and Freddie sheepishly lifted some bags before her with an uncertain smile. After no greetings were shared, Freddie spoke, "We went to the SAQ…" he started, referring to the bags, "and we secured a sept…or two…" Naomi noticed an excited twinkle in his eye. She stepped forward, closing the door. "Where to?"

"Anywhere, man. Anywhere that we can consume these fine goods is perfect.", Cook butted in. Naomi looked at JJ. He looked away at first, all wide-eyes and nervous smile, before finally looking her in the eye and saying "Yes, anywhere that would most likely keep us occupied for at least a few hours. But not anywhere scary or ominously closed off since we all remember what happened last time. Cook said that you would know a place and that we should invite you because you've been feeling down and it's somewhat bothering him because you've been acting like a complete bitch…" Freddie intervened "JJ! Quit flapping your fucking mouth!". They all turned towards Naomi. She smiled softly. "It's okay. Let me just get my phone, keys and wallet and we'll figure it out."

**ooo**

"Out of all the fucking places you could have brought us, you bring us to fucking Mount Royal?", Cook said as he wobbled down the path, trying to overstep jagged rocks so as to not lose his balance. "This place is fucking boring."

"You won't be saying that when you're hyped up on psychedelics and shitting your pants 'cause you're actually a little pussy."

Naomi took a seat at one of the many rocks in the clearing they'd found and waited for the others to follow suit. Cook was on her right, JJ on her left and Freddie directly in front of her. He pulled four bottles of Goose from the plastic bag and searched his pockets for the other substance. He located it with an "Aha!" and pulled out one tiny bag. "Now, you guys know the rules. Come back if you feel something is wrong or call someone you can talk to." They all nodded their heads in understanding. He first handed a tiny portion of the shrooms to JJ. They watched as JJ lifted then shoved the piece into his mouth and began to chew. His face screwed up in disgust as he declared that they tasted like sweaty balls. After they had finished the first sept, they sat around, waiting for it to kick in. Cook was the first to wander off and Naomi assumed that the drugs were already leading him where they wanted to go. Freddie shifted to a lying down position and just watched the sky and JJ began restlessly fiddling with some branches and twigs that were around him. When Naomi finally felt that familiar drop of her stomach and sense of anticipation kick in, she rose to her feet. "I'll see you guys in a bit.", JJ bobbed his head in an over-the-top fashion and Freddie smiled.

Naomi made her way down the path and checked the time. It was just past seven in the evening and she estimated that they would probably all be back at the clearing by eleven or twelve. The sun had already almost completely disappeared and it was getting a bit cooler. Before she returned her phone to her pocket, she scrolled through the contacts list. The mushrooms decided that it would a brilliant idea to text Emily. She knew she didn't live far.

**At the mountain. You should reach.**

Naomi continued walking until the bark of a tree caught her attention. She was certain that it was different somehow from all the other trees. There was something special about this one. She watched attentively as each crevasse slowly reformed itself over and over again to make different shapes that she couldn't exactly make out but was sure were something important. She was startled out of her study by the vibrations of her phone. She made an excited noise and looked at the lit up screen.

**Near the path…where are you? Katie is with me.**

She smiled delightedly and rushed out a reply.

**Meet u at clearingggggg**

She somehow found her way back without incident and without much pausing which was surprising considering that everything was distracting her and calling out to her. Katie was prodding Freddie to move faster as he searched his pockets for the remaining bag and Emily was sitting cross-legged in the center.

"Emily!"

Emily looked up at her and smiled. "Hey Nai."

The blonde nodded her head and sat down in front of Emily. "Do you want any?"

Emily shook her head, "Nah, I'm good. How are you feeling?"

Naomi pondered the life-altering question that was posed. "Light."

"Good. How's your mum?", the redhead shuffled a little closer to Naomi until their knees were touching.

Naomi eyed the contact between them, slightly slack-jawed. She didn't know how long she'd been looking but she noticed a hand being waved in front of her face. "Oh! Um…I think she's in…Vancouver right now. I don't really remember. She said she was coming home soon but that was two weeks ago…" The blonde babbled on for quite some time as Emily responded with a laugh or a clever quip and she eventually found herself lying perpendicularly from Emily with her head on the redhead's lap. She could tell that Emily was looking into her eyes again but Naomi kept her stare towards the stars and the gliding clouds. The moon demanded her attention and that made her remember that her pupils were probably dilated and most likely about the same size as the moon itself and maybe that's why Emily was staring at her so intently. Maybe she was freaked out that there was a monster in her lap with huge eyes that resembled the moon. Or maybe Naomi had sprouted a third eye and she didn't realise because she'd be looking through that eye without noticing because the view from each eye makes it seem like they're stuck together anyway. Or maybe-

"Naomi? You're hurting my arm."

The blonde tore her hand away from the arm that she hadn't even realised she'd taken hold of.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. How are feeling now?", Naomi felt Emily brush away the hair that had been sticking to her forehead despite the cool temperature outside. Naomi rubbed her hands together. They were clammy.

"A little shit. It's not over yet though." and right when she said that, she recognized movement within the clouds. "The sky is having a war."

"What?"

"It is…I see there are wolves in the first row on the left and on the right there are deer and behind the deer there are elephants but behind the wolves there are hyena." Naomi trailed off and tried to make sense of what she was seeing. She giggle when other animals emerged from the sky. "Ha. There are tiny rosy red shrimp swimming away from a great white shark."

Emily finally glanced skyward and she sighed when, of course, she didn't see a thing.

"Emily?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think the little fish run because instinct tells them to even if they don't exactly know what the shark is or is it because they're actually scared and they don't want to die?"

Emily brushed her thumb across Naomi's cheek and the blonde looked at her with wide enquiring eyes. Before Emily could respond, Naomi answered her own question.

"Actually, it's a bit of both, isn't it? I think that their instinct warns them that there's danger, so they get scared and run."

"Me too."

Naomi accepted Emily's answer but wondered if that gut feeling could ever be incredibly wrong.

"Emily?"

"Yes?"

"Do I have a third eye?"

* * *

**So, first I guess I should explain some of the ~lingo~ in this.**

**1) The SAQ: liquor store.**

**2) Sept: This is a slang term that's exclusive to Montreal, I think, that simply means seven grams of shrooms. Since sept means seven in French. Yeah.  
**

**3) CEGEP: Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel or College of General and Vocational Education.**

**The only place they visit in this chapter is Mount Royal, the mountain that Montreal's name is derived from. It looks pretty sweet in the fall**

_http : / / www .flickr .com /photos /montreal _bunny /5066953066 /_

**and you can get a pretty wicked view of the downtown area from it.**

_http : / / www .flickr . com /photos /missbanana /4686249862 /_

**AAAAND if anyone is into street art, you should totally check this out**

_http : / / www .roadsworth . com /main /index . php ?x=browse &category =2_

**Thanks for reading.**

**Peace.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Soooo I didn't just skip 3 whole classes today for no good reason. yaaay.  
**

**Anyway, thanks for the alerts and to whoever's taking a chance to read this huge muck-up.**

* * *

_Naomi and Will were seated at a lunch table scribbling down ideas for their next bombing. "…Listen you can't fucking tag up there, it's way too difficult to get up." _

"_We have to hit up the heavens sometime. It'll get us out there." _

"_It won't even matter if you actually end up falling and breaking your face on the pavement."_

_They had been arguing for some time about where they should start their next painting excursion, however, Will was getting a bit too ambitious for Naomi's liking. "I'm not going to help if you're going to act completely insane" _

"_But-"_

"_I'll tell you what, we'll get to the underside of one of the bridges over the Decarie expressway and we'll block a large chunk of the area from other artists."_

"_That's not anywhere near as exciting as getting up to the billboard."_

"_I don't give a shit."_

_She put the pen she was holding down onto the table in an action of finality and Will slammed the book he was looking through shut._

"_Oh stop sulking."_

"_No, you always have to be in control of everything, don't you?"_

_Naomi didn't counter the argument. Will noticed that she had stopped paying attention completely and was looking right passed his head. He turned in his chair to catch sight of what had demanded the blonde's attention so thoroughly. Finally, he spotted the source of interest. Two girls, obviously twins, we were walking into the cafeteria one behind the other. Will turned back towards Naomi and grinned. _

"_You are so fucking gay, I can't even get over it."_

_Naomi eyes flew back to look at Will, "What?"_

"_You were like, mad staring at those girls just now."_

_Naomi stuck her nose up in indignation, "I was not."_

"_Was too."_

"_No."_

"_Want me to go talk to them for you?"_

"_Are you insane? They're going to think you're some creepy stalker."_

"_Well you wouldn't care if you weren't staring at them, would you?." Will got up from his seat and began walking towards the table the two girls had taken seats at. He was just about to tap one on the shoulder when he felt himself being tackled onto the floor._

"_Ow! Ow! Are you fucking crazy!"_

_They began fighting on the floor, rolling over dust and picking up pieces of discarded food with their clothing. Naomi managed to catch a glimpse of one of the two girls rolling her eyes at the scuffle and turning back to the table. The other watched in amusement as Naomi was pinned down by Will. The blond continued trying to wriggle out of his grasp, but it was futile. Will sat back on his calves and asked "Are you done?" Naomi admitted defeated and sighed, "Yeah." He got off her and helped her up while dusting off her clothes. Naomi hung her shoulders and rolled her eyes at the role he'd taken as her elderly brother. "Are you done touching me?"_

"_Not quite."_

_He picked one last chunk of food from her hair, let out a breath and smiled affectionately. He leaned in a bit closer and said in a hushed tone, "I think you got your wish, one of them is undressing you with her eyes."_

_She turned her head to look at the girls and sure enough her eyes met the lingering ones of the twin she'd been staring at. The girl flushed and turned briskly to face the table once again._

**ooo**

Naomi closed her eyes and let the deep tones of the voice she was hearing practically saunter into her ear, the low frequency beating gently on her eardrum was particularly gratifying. It was all she could concentrate on; all she could hear. Her mind had been blissfully blank since after the come down from the ingested narcotic and with ease, she had let herself begin the rapturous descent into complacent relaxation.

"Do you remember the first time we saw each other?"

Naomi exposed her eyes to the sombre lighting emerging from the street lamps. One lamp flickered and lost it's spark just as they passed under it.

"Yeah, I do."

"You were having a brawl with some guy and you got the food that I dropped from my tray all over you."

The blond smiled at the memory. "Katie didn't seem too impressed by the fight."

Emily threw her head back and let out a throaty laugh, "I think she was just annoyed that some attractive boy looked like he was feeling you up instead of her."

Naomi swung the bag she'd nicked from Freddie back and forth. The weight of the two bottles was driving the plastic to dig into her hand. She switched the bag from her right hand to her left and stretched the cramped fingers of her right extremity. Her digits tingled as they were no more deprived of blood and her veins steadily guided the vital fluid to pass throughout her hand recurrently.

As silence fell upon them like it usually tended to, Naomi found that the tranquility of the night reminded her of many nights she'd spent painting with Will. In fact, she realised that they were passing one of the places where Will had brought her for one of her first bombings. "Em…do you mind stopping for a second?"

Emily broke her stride and looked at Naomi inquisitively. Naomi did not speak as she leant the bag containing the Goose on a wall and turned down an alley shrouded in darkness. "Nai, where the fuck are you going?"

The blonde shushed the redhead and headed deeper into the alley in an almost trance-like state. She felt as though something was pulling her towards the mural she knew was situated at the far end of the alley. More than that, she felt like someone had entered her body and was guiding her feet along the uneven concrete. A shiver assaulted her body, causing the light hair on the back of her neck to rise to attention. Her breathing quickened the closer she came to reaching the upright surface and the irregularity of her breaths could be discerned by the distance between every viewable exhalation that dissolved into the air. She finally reached the wall, her teeth chattering from the chill that was invading her skin. She came face to face with an unfamiliar white surface. Her brow scrunched severely as she lifted a hand to the wall and dragged her fingers across it. The fresh paint rubbed off onto her hand. She repeated the action a few more times and could see the colour beneath it. Frozen, she swore she heard a voice drift into her ear. _They're getting rid of me. _"No…" The blonde squatted for a moment, then rose with a rock in her hand. She began to scratch at the insulting concealment. With teeth painfully digging into her bottom lip, she punctuated every rough movement with a muffled, "No, no, no, no, no…"

"Naomi!" Before Naomi knew it, she'd been thrown onto the ground and was thrashing about trying to get whatever was pinning her down off of her. It was becoming hard to breathe and it worsened when she felt the thing straddle her hips and grip her wrists before slamming them above her head. Naomi felt the beast's palm against her neck and the fingers stretching out to reach around her jaw to hold her head in place as it tried to get her to open her eyes. "Naomi!" _Wake up. _The blonde froze and her eyelids jerked open. Her cloudy eyes quickly became glassy as she stared up at the mesmerising brown that never failed to captivate her. With her breathing coming out in short bursts, she felt the vice Emily had on her wrists loosen. She noticed Emily's breathing was also ragged and remained so as the redhead teetered forward, leaning her elbows upon the pavement on either side of the blonde's head to created a sort of halo around the perimeter of Naomi's apex with her hands connecting at the top. This effectively brought Emily's head down so that her cheek was resting against the blonde's temple and her mouth hovering above her ear. Naomi's breathing synchronised with Emily's as she listened intently to the pattern being expelled across her ear.

When their breathing regulated, Emily slowly lifted the upper part of her body. Naomi followed her movements, resting her own weight on her elbows and their faces remained poised in mid-air, mere centimetres separating them. They concentrated hard on each other, searching for the right action to be performed at the moment. When Naomi didn't move, Emily let out a sigh and she moved away completely before helping the blond get to her feet.

"Thanks." Naomi flashed Emily a tight-lipped smile.

Emily didn't respond but walked around the blond and back towards the entrance of the alley. She watched as the redhead picked up the plastic bag and resumed walking in the same direction like their travel hadn't been interrupted at all. Naomi jogged out of the back lane and caught up to Emily. She wasn't quite sure what to say. A long moment passed before a frustrated noise came from the redhead. "Fuck. Fuck! What the shitting hell _was_ that? Mind fucking explaining to me what that episode was because it was goddamn terrifying to witness!"

"It was nothing. I just…remembered…something."

"_Please _Naomi, don't even _try_ to bullshit your way out of this."

"I don't know what it fucking was!" the blond snapped. She walked briskly passed Emily and continued down the sidewalk. She heard the redhead's light steps and the shuffling of the bag getting closer and knew this wasn't going to end well.

"How do you not know what that was? You must have some idea!"

Naomi whirled around, "I said I don't. Fucking. Know. Alright? Now just drop it."

Emily dropped the bag to the ground and the glass shattered. Once again, Naomi found herself being overtaken by the tiny girl and she was forced to stop walking.

"Move out of my way."

"No."

"Emily, _move_."

"No."

Naomi roughly gripped the redhead's shoulders and shoved her to the side, she backed them up until Emily's back was against the closest brick house.

"You just need to fucking stop, Emily. Just go away and leave me alone."

"You don't even really want to be alone…" the redhead began, but flinched when she saw Naomi raise her hand. "You're just too fucking scared to admit it. Come on then, hit me. _Hit me._" the redhead spat.

Naomi clamped her fist and pulled it back. She swung it forward and noted the way Emily's head turned to the side slightly, her eyes closing in fear, before stopping just short of her face. She unclenched her fist, only to flatten it against the side of Emily's face softly, feeling the subtle trembling of the girl's frightened body. The redhead opened her eyes and allowed them to bore into Naomi's. The blonde's bottom lip trembled and she murmured "You really thought I was going to hit you…" She let her hand slide along the length of Emily's face before letting her arm drop back to her side. She took a step back. "I have to go."

"Naomi…"

"I have to go." For the third time that night, she persisted along the course that led back to her apartment. She didn't look back and when she finally arrived at the door of her eighth floor dwelling, she thumped her forehead against it multiple times. "Stupid, stupid, stupid…"

"Would you stop doing that? I don't want you to like…fall into a coma in addition to that weird fit you just had."

The blond turned her head with her forehead still attached to the entrance and looked at Emily warily.

"Why are you still here?"

"Do you really think I would leave you be after that? Come on, open the door, get inside."

"How did you even get in past security?"

"They eventually start trusting the girl with bright red hair who constantly sneaks in a minute after the bleach blond girl. Just saying."

"You're very annoying."

Emily smirked and gravitated towards Naomi, "You seem to inspire it in me."

Naomi finally unlocked the door and let Emily inside. Before stepping in, she wondered whether this was the best or worst decision she's ever made in her life.


	5. Chapter 5

"_Watch and learn, little Nai."_

_Naomi watched Will's hand as it rose to hover away from the wall. She could see the miniscule muscles in his hand work minimally as he pressed the button on the top of the spray can. Her eyes followed the path of the paint as it flew like a projectile from the nozzle. It hit the wall with only a slight spatter and Will followed the precise path he'd drawn out in his head. "Don't ever press it all the way, okay? The can is just going to end up shooting out way too much and this shit's expensive enough without wasting it because you overdid it. Plus it's going to look like complete crap if you do that…"_

_The blond picked up a can and did what Will had instructed. She tried copying his exact movements and pushed the canister's top. She hadn't expected the tiny recoil it caused and her previously steady hand moved back a little. She drew a line. Or at least, tried to. She felt Will looking over her shoulder at her attempt. He clicked his tongue and they continued looking for another whole minute, both pairs of eyes alternating between Will's line and Naomi's line. The blonde heard Will open his mouth and take a breath before he spoke, "Well…at least the wall is really big…you can try again…" Naomi said nothing and went on taking in her abomination of a segment. Will finally chuckled, "That is _really_ bad."_

"_I know."_

"_It's okay, just keep trying, your shitty lines with probably get capped by me anyway."Naomi rolled her eyes but knew it was true._

_**ooo**_

_They spent the entire afternoon in Will's backyard; Will laughing at Naomi's low level skill with the paint and Naomi grunting in annoyance when she couldn't do exactly what she wanted to do._

_They'd been trying to figure out a tag for Naomi; a nickname that she would be able to spread throughout the city, but they kept coming up blank._

"_Okay…It has to be something that represents you."_

"_Right."_

_They were seated on the three cement steps attached to Will's porch. Naomi was dragging her finger along the design of the handrail. She rubbed her index and thumb together to brush off the rusted bits that had decided to take refuge on her fingers._

"_So…You like…spreading a message through the art…"_

"_Not really, I just mouth off to get my point across."_

"_True. Okay…You like to…disregard people's opinions because yours are the more intelligent, superior ones…" Will grinned and waved the stick he was holding out in front him up and down. He stopped his fidgeting only to bring the stick closer to his face to begin picking the bark off._

"_Thanks Will, you're making me sound great."_

"_What's another word for that? Like…rejecting, refusing…"_

"_Veto?" Naomi stopped touching the rail and brought her hands into her lap. She noticed a loose thread in the denim of her jeans and her restless hands couldn't help but restore the anxious cadence she began on the rail by plucking at the tiny fibre too._

"_Yeah, that.", Will pulled a massive piece of the hardest protective layer off the branch. He studied the pattern for a moment before lobbing it a few feet away from the lowest step._

"_Not a fan of that." Naomi continued shredding the tiny area of her jeans, even when she noticed that she may have pulled a bit too much apart and it was now in the midst of creating a hole._

"_Shit." Will resumed his previous actions of flailing the thin mass except now, with every downward stroke, the tiny arm formerly belonging to the tree repeatedly hit the ground between where his feet were rested._

"_Yeah." Naomi became disappointed when she finally broke through the surface of her jeans to reveal a tiny expanse of white skin, but still couldn't stop herself from digging her index finger into the void._

"_I've got it." _Thump. Thump. Thump.

"_Oh? Do you now?" _Thump. Thump. Thump.

"_Nix." Will said sagely._

"_Nix?" the blond glanced at Will._

"_Nix.", Will confirmed, nodding his head and ceasing all movement._

"_I like that." Naomi removed her hand from the orifice._

**ooo **

If you had asked Naomi Campbell what she thought she would be doing earlier in the week on her Sunday morning, the last thing she would have said was "I'm going to be spending it with a tiny balefire that's been flagging me down me for years, while I, being the marvellous runner that I am, constantly changed direction." But there they were, strolling down St. Catherine street, merging in and out of the many tiny clusters of people that got in their way.

"Why do people have to walk so goddamn slow?" Naomi moaned as she tried desperately to slip past a sluggish woman, who was looking to her side, distracted by all the shops instead of paying to attention to her actual goal. She failed when the woman just happened to take an unpredictable side-step and the blond had to stop abruptly to avoid a collision. "Fucking Christ…" Naomi muttered under her breath as she was forced to wait up for Emily, who was taking her time and going with the flow of the crowd, unlike the blond.

When the redhead reached Naomi, she smiled knowingly, "Naomi, you should really chill out. This is the busiest street in the city, you're not gonna get anywhere by trying to rush past everyone. Besides, we're going to be here for a while, might as well enjoy the scenery." Her gentle smile transformed into a smirk.

"Whatever." the blond responded, regretting making the stupid bet with Emily the night before.

.

_When Naomi turned around after closing the door, she found that the redhead was already out of sight. She made her way to the kitchen, draping her sweatshirt over the back of a chair before washing her hands. A procession of curses danced out of her mouth when the warm water caused the back of her right hand to sting and she pulled it out from under the water to inspect it. There were tiny little cuts scattered across the dry skin of her knuckles, most likely from the slightly frosty weather the hand had to endure not an hour before. Turning the tap off and lifting her left hand, she pondered why only the right hand would be critically affected by the cold before entering the hallway to reach the bathroom. The chill of the tiles infiltrated her socks and she swore again because it seemed that everything she managed to make contact with was just _cold_. Opening a cupboard, she reached for the hand cream and some bandages to wrap around her hand so the substance wouldn't spread everywhere. She'd almost forgotten that Emily was in the apartment when a crash that she assumed came from the living room echoed around the quiet home. Her mouth formed a slight O and she rushed to finish wrapping the bandage around her hand before hastily making her way to the room._

"_What was that?"_

_The redhead bent down to pick something up then rotated, which revealed that a game controller was being held in her grasp. She smiled self-consciously and held up the controller. "Wanna play?"_

"_Oh, so that's why you wanted to come here? Not really because you were worried but because you saw it as a great opportunity to massacre my belongings and take advantage of the lonely consoles."_

"_Obviously…", Emily tucked some hair behind her ear, "it had nothing to do with the absolutely stunning blond who was distraught and ran off, making me feel like she had taken all the light from my world with her."_

_Naomi felt her entire body twitch in response to Emily's words, her brain immersed in repeating them over and over and over. They had a titillating effect, almost as if Emily had walked right up to her and somehow managed to caress every single nerve that was housed in Naomi's body at the same time. Naomi pictured herself in a bath tub, the words surrounding her substituting water and stroking their way up and down her body, only to then nestle themselves in the most delicate and receptive areas they could find. The urge to run was strong but she stepped forward on her vacillating legs and took the controller. She allowed her weight to drop onto the floor and another image materialised in her head of boulders rolling down the rocky path of a tremorous mountain. Naomi was stood at the bottom._

_Emily shrugged her shoulders at the verbal unresponsiveness of the blond and bent down to pick up the second remote control. Naomi wanted to rip every strand of hair from her head as Emily's shapely posterior was projected outwards slightly for a few seconds due to the bend of her body before it disappeared when the redhead eventually took a seat. _

_Emily looked to her side. The blonde met her gaze and ascertained that the redhead had something planned._

"_If I win, you have to spend aaall day with me tomorrow." Naomi felt the pandemonium in her heart and mind increase at the challenge and it was useless to try and stop the giddy feeling that embedded itself in her stomach as she digested the effervescent gleam in Emily's eyes. _

"_Fine."_

Emily was warm_._

_._

The thriving downtown region continued to annoy Naomi as she and Emily turned down a side street to try and avoid the cramped population. It was only slightly less suffocating but still succeeded in pacifying the blond. They were about to turn into a clothing store when an excited exclamation ambushed her ear.

"Nix!"

Naomi walked faster.

"Yo, Nix!"

She panicked and grabbed Emily's hand to begin dragging her down the sidewalk.

"Naomi!" this try for her attention was a lot closer. Someone tapped her shoulder. She dropped Emily's hand and turned.

She came face to face with a dark skinned man. He looked just as she remembered him. Low skinny jeans, baggy shirt, cap tipped to the side and the biggest dimpled smile she'd ever seen in her life. She held her hand out for the usual grip-hand-pull-to-chest-pat-on-back greeting. He wasn't having any of it.

"What the hell is that shit? Come 'ere." He grabbed her and gave her a full on bear hug, all she could do was gasp. When he finally let go of her, she smiled genuinely. "How are you, Q?"

"Queazy's alright, Queazy's alright. The real question though is how are _you_? I haven't seen you in don't you run with the crew anymore?" Naomi felt awkward having this conversation with Emily standing right beside her. "I…uh…you know…" she gestured uselessly with her hands. "Will…"

"Yeah. I still miss that guy. Every time I pass one of his pieces, it's still as shocking as the first time…" He interrupted himself as he searched his pockets for something. He pulled out a phone and looked disappointed. "Shit, I'm really sorry, Nix. I was in a rush when I saw you and still am. I have to get going. Give me your number for fuck's sake so you don't disappear again." His phone found its way into her hand and she punched her number in before handing it back. "Thanks Nai. You take care."

"You too, Q."

Q wandered off and Naomi turned to face Emily. The redhead looked confused.

"Who is Will?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Yeah I said it would slow down after last chapter and then this chapter shows up in the shortest amount of time between updates so far. lol. After this one, though, I think it'll be sluggissshh.**

* * *

_They hugged their coats tighter around themselves as they took shelter in an outdoor concrete stairwell connected to an apartment complex to escape the light snow fall. It didn't do much, but at least they weren't directly getting blasted by the wind. Naomi looked down the road. The streetlamps were dimmed by the placid but constant descent of the tiny flakes and the snow removal teams had not yet passed, causing many cars to struggle out of their parking spaces. Will and the blonde sighed at the same time and watched as their breaths seduced the tiny flakes into floating closer, before dissolving them. Sometimes the odd person passed them, strangely hunched trying to hide their faces to avoid the gusts of winds and snow. The people would usually look up and stare at them and Naomi would wonder what was so interesting about a couple of teenagers sitting on some stairs. Surely they weren't that enthralling. _

_The silence continued to spread in the form of minutes, both of them too cold to bother speaking. Naomi's tongue darted out to try and soothe her bottom lip as it became more and chapped due to the bursts of icy air that invaded their tiny dome. She was compelled to breathe through her mouth as the cold triggered her nose to start running. She sniffled and uttered a profanity because she felt stupid for making them leave so early to wait in line at the venue. Will tried to convince her that there would be no line-up because the band was too small, but she persisted and he probably let himself cave just to shut her up. Her eyes dropped down to follow another man's footprints in the snow but her spell was broken by the sound of a large vehicle. They both looked up and caught sight of a miniature bus, usually used to haul children to school. It was painted a light blue and blended beautifully with the white surroundings. From the view she had of it, she noticed that there was a red crown painted on the driver's side door and near the rear there was a tiny yellow lightning bolt. It parked in front of the venue's back door and Naomi watched as the driver exited and slammed the door. She noticed the door on the opposite side opening straight after. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Eight people exited from that door and a few moved to the rear end door. Her excitement escalated and she assumed Will's did too as his feet twitched like they wanted to walk towards the scene in front of them when the men at the back started unloading gear._

_Guitars, crash symbols, snares, bass drums, foot pedals, keyboards and other instrumental appliances were taken out and she noted the bus rising slightly as it was being disencumbered by all the gear and the stress on the tires was being relieved. She and Will were still as they watched all the people disappear through the back door and she wondered how they would get Will his ticket. Naomi had gone to buy her ticket beforehand but Will sat on his lazy ass and didn't bother moving. Maybe she was just embarrassingly more eager. Usually, someone that worked at the venue would be waiting by the door to sell tickets but tonight there was no one. She looked at Will and they both nodded before getting up, dusting the snow off their coats and heading for the door. Someone that they assumed worked there came rushing out and he spotted them immediately as they must have looked like they wanted something. Naomi spoke first. _

"_Hey, uh…we were wondering if he could get his ticket for the show now or…"_

_The guy smiled. He had long brown hair and one of those calming smiles, the kind that immediately let you know that he was a gentle soul. Or maybe he was just high. _

"_Well, I'm not entirely sure, I just play in one of the bands that are performing here tonight…"_

"_Oh…" Naomi and Will said in unison._

"_But you know what? Just follow me up the stairs. There's hardly anyone there anyway, no one will notice."_

_The three of them grinned, Naomi and Will as thanks and the man as reassurance. They climbed the cramped back stairs and the blonde smirked as she nudged Will and pointed at one of the many marker scribbles that the wall was dressed in. Will gladly ran his hand over the mark and looked distant for a second before he smiled back at Naomi. They'd drawn all over a part of the wall months ago in addition to the many other writings that were there. But their attention was mainly focused on the elaborate design they created that spelled "Nix the Spunk". Naomi laughed when Will told her that he chose the name Spunk, however, she completely agreed with what it stood for: His strength of character, nerve and courage to persevere through anything. They looked at it one last time then they entered the main room of the venue._

_The stage was at the completely opposite end from where they were standing and to their left there was a snack bar where they sold drinks and food. Along the right of the room there were benches lined up against the wall. They sat there and watched as the first band, the one from the blue bus, set everything up on the small stage. The room was quite tiny and couldn't fit more than two hundred and fifty people. She believed that the capacity was a bit of stretch. Whenever she went to a show here there were never more than a hundred people and you always felt like you were on the brink of feeling claustrophobic. That was why she enjoyed it. It ended up always being an extremely personal experience and you connected with the people that you admired on stage and the ones grooving to the music all around you. _

_When the lights dimmed they removed their jackets and just dropped them onto the bench. Another bonus of going to such a small venue. You could just drop the crap you brought everywhere and it was safe. No one even tried to steal it. Naomi thought it was because even when no one knew one another, they were viewing the same nameless band that they all somehow discovered and as a result they felt bound to each other and they owed each other at least the decency of leaving their usually overbearing habits behind. That can't be said for much larger venues. She'd gotten stuff stolen countless times when she'd been too drunk or high to realise someone was fishing in her pockets while she jumped and moved around frenetically._

_They moved right to the front of the stage and Naomi looked around. The only other human beings were the two at the merch stands, people that were on the tour and were going to perform and lastly, one other fan. He wore a hat and had dreads and she saw him glance at her. He smiled at her and she returned the gesture so that the awkward atmosphere of being so few people was broken. The show commenced._

_**ooo**_

_She wasn't entirely sure how she and Will ended up in the back of the blue bus. All she knew at the moment was how to smile lazily at Will and the other nine people populating the bus. Everyone was facing each other. The back of the bus had been renovated and there weren't two rows of seats anymore. Instead, there was a couch bordering every wall of the van except the back outlet. There was a thick haze in the rear of the carrier as a result of them achieving their goal of hot boxing the van. There were two huge joints being passed around in opposite directions and Naomi watched Will as he took a few tokes, smiled at her and exhaled. He passed the reefer to the girl occupying the space between himself and the blonde. Naomi had taken quite a liking to her when she'd shown up on stage and began playing the flute. She had looked tiny and shy as hell and Naomi inevitably became intrigued. _

_The girl lifted the blunt to her lips and Naomi watched intently as her lips encased the roll and she sucked. Naomi's eyes drifted down and gaped at the girl's chest as it rose to take in the smoke. The blonde finally looked up in question when the girl's front didn't fall with the exhalation. When Naomi met her gaze, the brunette released the smoke in the direction of her face to playfully scold her for focusing on the area she had been. Naomi opened her mouth to take in the vapour that was released from the girl's mouth in response. They laughed together uncontrollably. She saw Will shaking his head and smiling at her from the corner of her eye. She caught his attention and flipped him off. Now he was laughing too. The joint was handed to her and she took her share. When Naomi shifted to hand the joint to the next person she felt an interesting sensation on the side of her neck. She closed her eyes and leaned back. The sensation followed. Opening her eyes this time, they remained half-lidded as she realised that the girl had been paying particular attention to her neck with her lips. Naomi sighed as everything remained a blur and she vaguely noted that most of the interior decoration of the bus was a very alluring red._

**ooo**

Naomi needed to let off some steam. She experienced nothing but stress and agitation in the past week and she couldn't figure out why it was all bubbling over now and at the same time. When she arrived home after her day with Emily she was left with this irrepressible urge to break every piece of furniture and rip up anything she could until it turned into tiny pieces of forgotten nothingness. She sat on her couch, rubbing her hands over her face and rocking herself back and forth. She managed to fight off a panic attack a few minutes before and she was still in the process of calming herself down. When she was done, she got up and walked to the table that she previously dropped her keys on. She didn't remove her coat when she first got inside, so she stepped out for the second time that day after taking her keys. She walked the usual route to get the bus and waited. She went over her day with Emily for the thousandth time.

When Emily asked who Will was, the blonde felt like she'd been stung. It took her a few moments to collect herself and when she answered it was curt and she was sure her voice was so low that Emily could hardly hear her. "He was just a friend…who left…to go somewhere."

"Oh…" was Emily's response.

Naomi thanked whatever force it was that led Emily to being smart enough to drop the subject immediately. Naomi felt the supernova in her chest pushing everything away again and for the rest of the day, Naomi remained unemotional and uninterested. She almost cracked when she noticed the disappointment on the redhead's face the few times Emily thought the blonde wasn't looking. When they parted, Emily reached up to run her thumb along Naomi's cheek. Naomi allowed the redhead to lean up and place a tender kiss to her forehead. The blonde knew it wasn't just a kiss, but more of a question. One of many. What are you afraid of? Where did you go today? Why don't you let me in? When are you going to stop fighting? Will you _ever_ stop fighting? They were questions that the blonde was unable to answer.

The bus ride to her destination was short. She walked a few blocks before turning down a dark street and knocking on the only door she found. She heard the harsh tones of some heavy music before the door was opened and the noise became more prevalent. "You here for them?" The man gesture upwards. Naomi nodded and handed him ten bucks. He didn't bother giving her a ticket and she just walked up. She didn't stop to admire the inked up walls and went straight through the upper door. Throwing her jacket on the floor she faced the back of the crowd. The band's messy music seemed to have quite the effect on the crowd and people were being pushed, punched and thrown.

By the movement of the outer layer of the crowd, she concluded that this was going to be a closed pit. It was going to be tight, packed, suffocating, painful and very difficult to move. Exactly what she needed. She moved towards the crowd and her hair was a welcomed contrast amongst all the dark colours that were forcing their way around the sea of people. She took a step back as someone originating from the middle of the floor was thrown towards her. She pushed him back into his doom and he was dragged away by the flood. Her heart rate began to increase as she let the dissonant sound of the echoing strings consume her. Edging her way closer to the center of the pit, she began to feel the rough side to side motion of the crowd the deeper she got. This was the area where people were lightly nudging her. She was waiting for the moment when one would eventually give her one last hard shove. It happened moments later.

She flew head first in the pit and her head was immediately given a hard whack to the left and she fell onto the fence of people that weren't moving. They pushed her back in just as she had done to the first guy. Her body flew like a rag doll and she was pushed into the opposite direction from where she came. This granted her a very short amount of time and she planted her feet on the ground and gathered her bearings as the chaos around her increased. She swung her body to the right, hitting whoever was pushing past her at the moment in the side with her elbow. She heard the person gasp before she heard a voice say "Nice one." and she was pummelled into moving forward. Her body was hammered again and again by different arms each time and she fought back just as hard. She distantly acknowledged that she was dripping sweat. She gripped t-shirts, clutched limbs, and kicked and punched her way around the pit all in an attempt to stay upright. That was the fun of it. She felt the back of her shirt being grabbed and she cried out as the person pinched a bunch of skin as well. The hand disappeared but the painful distraction allowed her to be beaten to the floor. Arms quickly flew out of the wall of people and helped her get up before her body was able to be crushed by everyone. Once again, she threw herself into action and her heart was practically beating out of her chest. She was struggling to breathe and the people pushing up against her were asphyxiating. She felt their sweat covered bodies rubbing sickeningly against her skin. The repugnant smell should have been repulsive, but the situation didn't allow it to become so.

They were people raging together against the hardships they were facing in their lives. They were relieving their domineering aggression in the only outlet they had so that it didn't take complete control and destroy them.

She was given a good pop in the face and felt the fear she held around the little firecracker dissipate. It became much less frightening. She felt her body jerk as a blow was delivered to her stomach and she battled for breath. Will became the focus of her thoughts. Her arm was yanked into an awkward angle and she bit her lip to the point where it bled. She smiled and imagined him beside her. Her feet were swept from beneath her and her back hit the floor and an arduous pain spread. Will was bending down to help her up. But she remained on the floor. Her eyes were closed and she wondered why she wasn't moving. Suddenly a pain exploded in her face and she yelped as she felt her nose crack. She was standing near a wall watching Will. She curled herself into a ball and let herself become dead weight so the arms reaching for her couldn't help her up. She stepped on the tracks and grabbed Will's arm. People were screaming for a girl to get off the floor before she got hurt, and she wondered why the girl wouldn't heed the warnings. Will pushed her and she fell onto her stomach. Her ankle was stepped on and she barely registered the sharp pain. She heard the train approaching and turned as it advanced on Will. Everything was getting fuzzy. She watched the impact and how Will's body was revoltingly crushed under all the weight. Something hit the back of her head and she fought to stay awake. No use.

Will's mangled body was left lying lifelessly on the tracks.

* * *

**Wow. This was really draining to write. I felt really, really sad by the end of it.**

**I think the most intense mosh I've participated in was for Gallows. It was an outdoor event and even more painful if you ended up on the floor since it was all rock and gravel. I got a rock lodged in my elbow (not so bad), my friend lost one of her shoes (common) and another got a piercing ripped from her face. (not so great...obviously) On the bright side, I managed to push myself through all the significantly larger people to scream until my lungs died with the vocalist. Yay! That is a very difficult feat for someone who is 4'11 and who's weight is nonexistent. Okay.**

**So the venue that appears twice in this story is called Underworld. It's a skate shop, but has a back door that leads to a top floor that is a venue.**

http :/ /www .underworld-shop . com/ client/ uploads/ 20859/ 124655191155536. jpg

**Peace x2 (Since the peace and harmony was missing from the last update)**


	7. Chapter 7

**SOOOOO I was totally supposed to write an essay this afternoon instead of this. Meh.  
**

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_As she marched down the almost pointless steps lodged in the small hill, she wondered what the fuck she was doing there. There was a weight pressing onto her right shoulder, pushing her body further into the soil than it should be. She almost tripped and she was thankful that there was one person to her right and two behind her. One was lined up directly with her back, the other was continuing her straight path, parallel from her. They walked in the shape of a life-sized rectangle, the weight pressing down on them from different directions. A crowd of people followed their movements and advanced behind them. She could hear the sounds of muffled weeping. She spotted a crow sitting on a stone, its beady eyes were watching them. Feelings of contempt and disgust surged through her like a bolt of lightning at the sight. She hated the crow. Hated it. She could almost feel crackle of electricity around her as they passed the bird and she heard it speak to her. A simple but mocking "_Ha ha_." She couldn't stop herself from relieving the weight on her shoulder and running in order to frighten the fiend. There were gasps of shock and outrage as she reached the rock and it finally took off. Satisfied, she turned and gave the crowd a menacing look before resuming her torturous position under the weight. They walked along until they were told to stop. The weight was lowered beside a marginally larger chamber in the ground and the four stepped back. A man in black approached and stood at the foot of the chasm and he began speaking. The blonde didn't listen, she knew what he was about to say was a load of crap, so she zoned out. She only snapped herself out of it when she felt a drop. Two drops. Three. Four. Naomi lifted her head and stared at the sky._

"_Hey, Will…" she murmured as she closed her eyes and let the rain form a coat over her body. She felt every bead of water roll down whatever skin was exposed as it formed a barrier to shield her and Will from the other people that were gathered around. They were having a private conversation. Many tears had found their way down her cheeks, but they were now being lapped up or brushed away by Will. He was telling her not to be sad. She knew it. He wasn't talking to all the other fucks here 'cause they didn't know anything. They didn't know him at all. The storm surged and another powerful wave of rain hit her face. It gathered underneath her clothes, mostly over her heart. It permeated the skin and bone that covered the organ and she felt her heart grow cold. She scrunched her brow, confused. Why did Will want that? Why was he reaching into her chest to dampen the constant and erratic beating of her heart? The water continued its cleansing movements over Naomi's body and she didn't realise that people were trying to get her attention. She felt a hand on her shoulder and the barricade was easily broken. She looked at whoever touched her. The person smiled sadly. "It's your turn to speak…" She nodded and made her way to the crater. She stood dangerously close to the edge and she witnessed people's worried stares. _Whatever_. Her place remained closest to Will. The water was still dripping from her body._

"_Will…was…a great friend. A really great friend. I, he…uh…" was stuttered out of her mouth. She muttered under her breath, "This is so stupid...It doesn't mean anything." Composing herself, she lifted her head and eyed the crowd. "You know what? You all fucking suck!" A murmur erupted from one side of the crowd to another. "He wouldn't have wanted such a boring goodbye. He never did anything by the book…" She felt intoxicated, like she couldn't control what was seeping from her mouth. She felt like she wasn't even in her body. "He liked painting." There was a buzz of agreement. An almost deranged laugh emerged from her mouth. "You're idiots. All of you. He spray painted everywhere. He was a little fucking vandal. And you know what? We fucking revelled in it. If we could have bathed in paint together, we would have. Painting was his life. His mistress, in a way…" She raved on incoherently, until she couldn't say anymore. _

_There was silence. No one said a word. Not even the rain. Not even Will. She took a deep breath and reached into her coat, pulling out a can containing white paint. She made sure the right cap was on properly before testing it out on her hand. She smiled when it worked like it always did. She faced the crowd again. The silence was transfigured into a fog of uncertainty over the crazed girl standing before the crowd. Shaking the can, she stepped forward. Standing in front of the casket, she laid one hand upon it and beamed. Finally, she lifted the can in her trembling hand and was surprised that no one was stopping her yet. She froze, thinking of a better way to do this. Her body was wracked with a shiver when the idea came. Her foot was lifted into the air and was poised on the ledge of the chest. She pushed her weight all into that leg and lifted herself to stand on Will's new home. Her arms reached out in opposite directions like a child balancing itself on a balance beam in a play ground. _

_Approaching people caught her attention. It was Q with the rest of the crew._

_He was ambling towards them with a huge bag and the others were carrying what looked like an enormous blanket. Q dropped the bag unceremoniously and the others began unfolding the big piece of what she realised was plastic. _

_It hit Naomi that they were probably considered trash by most of the people here and that enraged her even more. _

_She leaned over the edge to retrieve the other colours that Q began handing to her and she lined them up on the casket. The blonde ducked down and waited as the plastic was thrown over her and then was lifted to block the casket from the downpour. There were 4 crew members on each side of the casket holding the shield up. Q handed her a large towel and she dried the wet surface. Throwing the towel onto the damp grass, she remained crouched and finally began to spray._

_The piece didn't take as long as she would have liked, since she probably would have been dragged away if she'd tried to do it. She was relieved when Q had brought the high pressure Molotow cans since there was a much larger chance that the paint would have dribble off due to the rain, even when she had dried most of it._

_She painted a logo on Will's home. It spelled out "FILTH" They used to call the crew that as a joke, but it ended up becoming the name anyway. It was supposed to be a huge 'Fuck you' to the people who really thought so about the population that participated in street art._

_When she was done, she hopped off the case and stood beside Q to admire her work. She noticed the crowd trying to get a good look too and she smirked. The people who were holding the plastic carefully came together to lower it without touching the art. The crew gathered on the small hill and all turned to walk away from funeral._

"_Shit! Run!" was heard amongst the group and they scattered. Naomi turned just in time to be knocked down along with Q. Their hands were pulled behind them and she felt something encircle both of her wrists. _Fuck_. Her face was pushed into the dirt and something was pressed into her upper back with force._

I guess someone _did_ call the police.

_**ooo**_

Naomi had been staring at a white ceiling for the past hour. She wondered how she became so stupid. She had allowed her head to get kicked in and her ankle to be trampled on, all during something she'd done a million times. She figured she wasn't completely at fault. The flashbacks of Will had been surprising and terrifying.

She continued her staring contest with the ceiling until she heard her phone vibrate a few feet from her where it was being held in her jeans pocket. She leaned sideways and off the bed in an attempt to reach for the chair that her jeans were thrown over, but it was no use. Her body fell limp over the side of the hospital bed and she groaned. She stayed like that until a voice cut through her self-pity party.

"Would you like me to get that for you?" She quickly fixed her position on the bed.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks." The phone was handed to her and a tray was placed beside her bed. She smiled at the man as he left the room. She flipped the phone open and swore at the amount of missed messages and calls she had accumulated. She'd been M.I.A. since she was knocked out, and that had been Sunday evening. It was now Tuesday and she was going to be discharged soon. The messages on her phone had remained unanswered throughout Monday because she just hadn't felt like dealing with people asking about her and her whereabouts. Most of the messages were from Effy, Cook and Emily. There was one from Q and she saved his number for later use. She was about to respond to the rest when the nurse came in again.

"You can leave." he said and left a pair of crutches leaning on the wall. He was being so short with her because she'd been incredibly rude to him the day before. Oh well.

**ooo**

Her home was dark and felt incredibly empty when she got in. Flicking on a few lights she let her crutches lean against a wall in her living room and took a seat on her couch. The pictures she had been looking at of herself and Will was still face down on the coffee table from the week before. She turned it over and placed it upright again. Her hand was run through her hair and she grunted when she felt that it was incredibly dirty. She limped over to the bathroom and removed the clothing that she'd been wearing for far too long at a time. Turning the water on, she stepped in the tub, then washed her hair and body as quickly as her injured ankle permitted. Then she stood under the water. The way it was running down her body reminded her of something. _She felt every bead of water roll down whatever skin was exposed as it formed a barrier…_She crossed her arms and lifted her head. _Many tears had found their way down her cheeks, but they were now being lapped up or brushed away…_She shook her head and opened her eyes. Through the blur she shut the tap and exited the bathroom.

A knock sounded on her door.

"Hold on!" she said loudly and went to grab a shirt and some sweatpants. She recovered the forgotten ankle brace from the bathroom and shoved it on. _This is gonna take fucking forever to heal_, she thought, due to the fact that she was already dragging her foot around the apartment without the crutches or brace supporting it. She finally reached the door and opened it to reveal, like always, a patiently waiting redhead. Emily beamed at Naomi and walked past her while declaring "Effy sent me." Naomi stood at the door for a few seconds before closing it and turning. Emily had already located the items that hadn't been in the house the last time she was there. The blonde watched as the redhead's eyes flew from the crutches to examine Naomi's feet. The blonde self-consciously moved her left foot to place it in front of the wounded one.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. I fell." Naomi looked everywhere but at Emily.

Emily rolled her eyes and moved towards Naomi.

"Let me guess, seeing as how these are not currently under your arms, you're already mistreating your injury, right?" she grabbed the blonde's arm and placed it around her shoulders. Naomi allowed Emily to lead her back to the couch. Emily turned the television on and took a seat beside Naomi.

"Do you want to tell me what happened now?"

This time the blonde rolled her eyes, "I went to a show and got the shit kicked out of me. Happy?" Emily raised her eyebrow but looked like she was about to laugh. "Very."

"It's not funny."

"Okay."

They sat in silence, mindlessly watching the screen. Naomi felt movement from beside her but she kept her eyes on the screen. Her left hand was taken from her lap and was now resting in the redhead's own. The blonde allowed tiny fingers to trace her long, slender ones. The tiny muscles in her palm had a fit of excitement and trembled with a desire for movement. Her middle finger twitched as she almost gave in. Once. Twice. Something took hold of the finger and she finally looked down at their hands. Emily had taken hold of the twitching digit between her index and thumb. Naomi watched in horror as her entire hand betrayed her portrayal of composure. It shook lightly, all except for the finger that Emily held in place. Meeting the redhead's eyes, she frowned. The girl was smirking at the fact that her hand was having a spasm over the very slight amount of contact. Naomi retracted her hand and stared for another second before getting up and hobbling her way to the kitchen for some ice. Surprisingly, Emily did not follow.

She juggled the bag between both hands and walked back to the living room. The redhead was still sitting in the same place. Naomi let out a breath of relief because for some reason she thought Emily would wander off to hide in the house and wait for Naomi to unwittingly cross her path before jumping out from behind an object to petrify her. It was a rather ridiculous thought. She plopped down on the sofa again, lifted her foot onto the coffee table and leaned forward to place the ice on her injured ankle.

A weight was lifted from the couch as Emily stood and turned to eye Naomi. The blonde closed her eyes and waited for the redhead to act on whatever impulse that just infiltrated her mind. She felt a hand grip the calf of her injured leg. Her eyes shot open to protest the movement of that leg but it remained perched on the back of her tongue. Emily gently lifted the leg off the table and turned it a bit before stepping in the space between Naomi's legs and grabbing the other one in the same place. She turned the blonde's body entirely and Naomi wanted to laugh and gauge her eyes out at the same time at the girl's persistence and surprising strength. Emily sat back on the couch, laying the uninjured leg flush against the back of the sofa and resting the damaged body part in her lap. Naomi wondered when Emily would quit playing 'how many of Naomi's limbs can I get into my lap'. Emily reached onto the floor for the fallen pouch of ice. She held it against blonde's joint. "You have to hold it. It's not going to do much if it's almost floating on top of your ankle." the blonde grimaced at the slight pain the light pressure created but her brow was smoothed within a few seconds as the ice allowed the discomfort to diminish.

"Are you going to college at all this week?"

Naomi didn't realise that she'd allowed her eyes to drift closed. They shot open.

"Probably not."

"What about your work?" one of Emily's hands was trailing a bit higher than it should have been.

"I don't know. I'll catch up later." As every other time they'd done this dance, Naomi tried to ignore the sensation being created on her leg.

"But you hate falling behind…I'll bring it to you." Emily's nails were now lightly grazing the front of the blonde's leg.

Naomi dropped her head onto the arm of the couch and sighed. Emily was being too nice and all she did was act like a cunt. Naomi wanted to shake her and tell her that she should be pursuing someone worth a lot more.

"Why are you always so nice to me?"

Emily's movements on her leg froze, not expecting the question. They resumed frivolously tracing the invisible constellation only they were aware of when she found an answer.

"Because I like you."

"That's it?" Naomi shot her a sceptical look.

"That's it."

Naomi snorted in disbelief and grabbed a pillow to lay over her face to block out the light. The delightful touch on her leg disappeared. She groaned a disappointed goodbye before pushing the pillow further into her face out of embarrassment, as if doing so would erase the few seconds that just passed.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" There was a voice very close to her ear. And it uttered that sentence in such a low, sensuous fashion that Naomi gripped the pillow even harder. She felt her knuckles strain against the thin layer of skin and she imagined that they must be as white as snow from the force. The pillow was being removed from her face and she clung to it. They played tug of war for a short moment before the source of comfort was ripped from the blonde's hands with an over the top yank. It was thrown and landed somewhere at the other side of the room. The redhead was knelt on the floor and she rested her arms on the couch followed by her head on her arms. Naomi could feel the feather light steps of Emily's breath jog across her neck. They slipped easily into her nerves like a pair of well made shoes and ran their way down along the blonde's body, nuzzling past her stomach but leaving it in a frenzy, then burrowing past the elastic of Naomi's pants before settling themselves deep in Naomi's core. The blonde shuddered but disguised it with a small shrug.

Emily let out a low laugh. Her breath completed another lap down Naomi's body.

"I saw that." Emily said.

Naomi wasn't sure what she was talking about at this point, she was concentrating hard on not breathing and not opening her eyes. She failed when soft lips were suddenly pressed against her neck. Her eyes shot open and she gasped in surprise. She hadn't considered the fact that Emily might actually lean a bit closer to finally rid them of the distance, nor did she consider the fact that Emily might part her lips a bit more to start sucking lightly on the skin her lips had never previously touched. Her tongue joined the ceremony seconds later. Naomi's brain was malfunctioning and could only produce a series of _what the fuck__. _An arm came to rest on Naomi's chest and the hand of said arm clutched the side of the blonde's neck that wasn't getting worshipped. Naomi was releasing short bursts of air involuntarily as a means to try and control herself from making any further movements. They only increased as Emily's mouth finally moved downward to press soft, lingering kisses along Naomi's collarbone. Abruptly, the lips and warmth were gone.

Naomi opened her eyes to find Emily standing before her, glowing.

"I'll be around tomorrow to drop off your work." The redhead grabbed her coat and bag and was out the door.

Naomi was back to staring at a ceiling, dumbfounded. She felt stupid lying alone in her apartment. The feeling only increased when she noticed that the silence was practically unbearable. She sat up and looked around, waiting for something to happen. The silence continued stretching on and on. She reached for the second pillow at the other end of the couch before lying down again and planting it directly onto her face.

* * *

**Naomi sucks at caring for injuries. Much like myself. lol seriously, dragging a sprained anything around like it's fine is a really bad idea.**

**_233am_, Will do :D Thanks!**

**_Vangoghgurrl_, High five, I fucking love Tricky. and I never realised those lyrics were able to flow with the story. Good find. and thanks a bunch!**

**_Lenoschka_, God, it took me AGES to come up with her tag. Maybe an unnecessarily long time, but I was so devoted in finding the right one, ha. yeah and that's only one little stretch of the whole street. It's ridiiiicccccc.**

**_HyperFitched_, Ha, well thanks for the kind words and the recs. This story will indeed chug along.**

**_oilsandstuff_, There are often times when I enjoy it, however, I'm one of those people that ALWAYS knows where they're going next, so when someone is in my way lol...they get moved. and that goddamn ice storm, I loved it. I took my skates out and had a go in the street. Good times.**

**_RuinMyLife_, Well thank you, I look forward to whatever you have to say about the other chapters :) LOL I love foufs. Doesn't stop it from being really sketchy though, haha. I do indeed speak french. :D**

**ps: I kept having to re-up this cause every time I thought most of the mistakes were gone, I'd catch another one. Goddamn!**

**oh and fucking PEACE was forgotten. No one should ever forget the peace. so.**

**Peace.  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**Wanted to get this in before I really started my weekend 'cause I'm going to be weeping over the sold out Harry Potter tickets then going to a bangin' house party that will most likely take up most of my weekend.**

**Oh and I just wanted to add that the memories are not in order. So this one does not pick up where the previous one left off, so you'll get to discover what happened with the popo lataz. I have some big, wicked and dangerous plans for Naomi. Muahahahhahaa. But not necessarily concerning the fuzz ;)**

**Also, I am too lazy to read this over. So if there are any annoying mistakes, I apologise.**

**

* * *

**

_They were sitting in PJ's, a nice little pub, wasted as hell and laughing at the fact that Q was really bad at holding his liquor. He was face down on the counter and mumbling incoherently about not feeling well and how he was most definitely never going to drink again. _

_It was his birthday and he was into talking big and telling Will that he had a higher tolerance and that Will was a little pussy who was going to get beaten in a 'tiny' drinking game. Will had shrugged off the jibes because he was just that relaxed. Will always had a way of downplaying any person's competitiveness or irritation by being so calm about everything. That was another reason why Naomi and Will fit together. His cool and composed aura essentially tranquilised the raging bull that resided in Naomi with ease._

_So the game eventually began. Naomi watched as they'd ordered fourteen shots of tequila each. She had asked if they were over doing it a little. Obviously both of them disagreed. Will convinced Q to go first. Q downed the first five with apparent ease, but struggled to even get to ten as the taste in his mouth became overwhelming. Will had laughed and said "Okay, my turn." Will asked for a large glass and poured all of his fourteen shots into it before smiling deviously and chugging the entire glass in one go. Q had watched him in disbelief before looking at his leftover shots and frowning. "Fuck it." he said and downed the rest. _

_Within minutes he'd been completely inebriated._

_So here they sat, trying to get him off of the stool with no luck. Will waved over the owner of the pub behind the counter. "Can I get some fries?"_

_The owner snorted, "Boy, we stopped making food hours ago. You can go across the street." He wiped the counter and was out of sight. "Shit." Will turned back to Q. "Okay little man, time to get off the seat." Groans of protest ensued. Will dragged him off the seat and bent over, bending Q over his shoulders and then he carefully stood up. He wobbled a bit before balancing himself and nodding triumphantly. "Let's go, Nai! We must find food!" They exited the pub and stood for a moment on the sidewalk looking up and down the street and trying to decipher a good place to cross without getting hit by a car on the busy road. There was an unexpected gap between two vehicles and Will hollered, "Run!" They took off, Naomi stumbling slightly before reaching the other side. Naomi went to take a step onto the sidewalk but miscalculated and tripped right over the tiny ledge. Will laughed happily, "I can't carry you too, man. Get your ass up."_

"_Yeah, yeah." the blond grumbled and rested on her knees for a moment before deciding that her head was balanced enough to get up. She swayed a bit and pointed her finger up in the air, "Okay…" she became steady, "…restaurant." They walked through the parking lot a few buildings down and Naomi went to open the door. It jiggled on its hinges. "Fuck!" Disappointment at not being able to eat flooded her brain. She hung her head. Will laughed again suddenly and Naomi looked up. A car was turning into the parking lot and driving towards the drive-through. They bolted to follow it and they all sighed in relief when they heard the low quality crackle of the communication system between the servers and the customers. They stood directly behind the car. More light came in from behind them and a loud honk disturbed the peaceful night. The blond whipped around and yelled "Fuck you, man! Fuck. You." She noticed the car ahead of her advance and she walked close to the bumper with Will by her side. They stopped together in front of the microphone. _

"_Yes, hello? May I take your order?"_

_Will giggled. "Yeah uh…I want uh…a…hamburger! I want a hamburger."_

"_Yes sir, I realise that but you have to be a bit more specific…"_

_Naomi burst out laughing._

"_Sir?"_

"_Yeah, sorry…" He was trying to compose himself, but the laughter wouldn't stop. "Number 3?"_

"_Number 3?"_

"_Yeaaaaah." he drawled and let out a yawn._

"_Is that all?"_

_Naomi interrupted, "I want some big ass fries!"_

_There was an even more noticeable crackled as they assumed that the woman speaking to them was muffling her laughter at the two ridiculous people trying to order._

"_Okay. You can move up. Thanks for ordering."_

_They moved steadily, still behind the car. They arrived at the tiny window to retrieve their food. The girl in the window smirked at them and handed them the food. Naomi grabbed the bag and handed the girl the money. After she'd retrieved the change, they went to sit on the closest suitable surface they could find. Will laid Q down on a patch of grass and sat down beside Naomi. The blond was munching on her fries when Will let out a noise of irritation. "What is this chicken shit?"_

"_That's number 3."_

"_Oh…"_

"_Dumbass."_

"_Shut up."_

"_I'm not the one who called myself 'Spunk', it sounds like you want to unload everywhere."_

"_Exactly, right now I want to jack off because you're acting so lovely."_

"_I knew it."_

_They continued eating and watching the cars go by in silence Will whipped off his hat, ruffled his hair then placed it back on his head. Naomi turned to him and grabbed it off his head to put it on her own. It was slightly bigger than her head and fell just above her eyebrows. "You have a fat head, dude." He ran a hand through his rarely seen hair. "You have beautiful and long flowing hair Will, you should really curl it or something, it would look magnificent." He rolled his eyes and took his hat back. She smiled at him and he reciprocated. Will reached over and ruffled Naomi's hair playfully while she attempted to lean away. He stilled his movements and continued smiling. "I like being here with you, Nai." She signed dramatically and flicked her hair back, "Oh, don't make me blush now." Will shot her a frightened look and said "Don't ever do that shit again, it was terrifying." Naomi chuckled. "But seriously…" Will continued, "You're my best friend. I don't know what I'd be doing right now without you." _

_The blond laid her hand on the cold concrete. "Will, you're wasted." He sighed and looked at her, "Anything to avoid admitting that you need someone, huh?" She scraped her nails along the rough surface. She finally looked up. "Nai, I fucking love you, man." _

_A long moment passed before she sucked it up and answered, "I love you too, Willem." He pumped his fist into the air "Yes!" They heard a strangled noise and turned towards Q. Something was seeping from his mouth. Naomi scrunched her nose up at the sight "Gross." Will chuckled and rolled Q onto his side. _

"_I knew rejection was coming sometime soon." _

_**ooo**_

_Naomi awoke in the same position she had been in last night. Flinging the pillow off of her face, she sat up and cracked her neck. She opened and closed her mouth in an attempt to the cure the dryness she was experiencing and she lifted her hands to her head to pat her hair down. Something moist was invading the space her ankle was in. She squinted her eyes to focus on her foot and saw that the bag that was holding the ice had somehow been punctured, causing all of the water to leak out into the couch and her foot. Several swear words filled the air as she struggled to get up without causing stress on her ankle. Hopping on one foot while leaning against a wall, she made her way to where the crutches were. When she was settled, she headed for the kitchen. _

_The kettle was emptied and refilled, then the button was flicked to start transferring heat to the water. She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. Thought about Emily practically ravaging her neck yesterday. Shook the thought away. She glanced towards the fridge and saw one of Will's designs being held by a magnet to the door. Picking it off, she examined it and remembered exactly when Will had given it to her. It was one of the many nights they'd spent at PJ's. That night had been different though. They'd been acting particularly sentimental and he'd created a piece in her honour. It was one of the only sketches that left his black book, which was also now in her possession. There was no way in hell she was letting his family keep it. _

_An idea smacked her between the eyes. She put the paper down into the counter and limped to her bedroom. She reached under the bed and pulled out a cardboard box. Dragging it across the floor, she lead it back into the kitchen and lifted it slowly to let it fall heavily onto the table. The cardboard was almost sagging due to the fact that it had been opened, closed and bent in different directions in haste to get it open previous times. It flopped open easily and she reached inside. Will's black book, her own book, markers and pencils were pulled from the package. They were laid out but before going through everything, she quickly made herself a coffee. She placed the mug on the table and settled herself in the chair. At first, she drank everything in. Both hands rested flat on the table on either side of pile. Eye scanning every single item slowly, taking into account every detail before her, including every marker colour and even every tiny number on the pencils that signified the hardness or blackness of the lead. Her breathing was steady and deep when she reached for the black book that had been hers. She scowled at the first few sketches. They were ugly and you could tell that the person was incredibly inexperienced. With each turn of the page, the sketches improved slightly until finally, she reached the pieces that had been good enough to hit the city with._

_She had revisited many of the places where she and Will had left their mark. Some of them had been buffed, but many of them were still representing them. It was like a time freeze whenever she passed one. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as she remembered what was said, every facial expression and every word that was exchanged during the hit._

_She rattled her brain for what she was going to do now that she had taken all of this stuff out of its hiding place. The book was placed in front of her and she reached for a light pencil. She ran her finger along the wood and over the tip, feeling the solid lead poke the tip of her finger. It didn't leave any graphite on her finger. Satisfied, she put the utensil to paper. Her hand tried to recreate letters that she hadn't drawn in a long time. A irritated growl arose from her throat. The pencil was placed back on the surface and she ran her hand through her hair and then rotated both wrists to loosen them up. She huffed and reached for the pencil once more. Her hand shook lightly as the tip of the pencil hovered over the pristine white page. The point finally came into contact with the sheet. Her wrist curved and arched as it danced across the page to fall into an old habit. The ghost from the memory of when he first created the piece took control of her hand and it flowed to mirror what she recalled. When she was done with the graphite, she reached for the black marker. She outlined the piece heavily, then erased the rest of the pencils marks. A second was taken to decide what she should add it make it more interesting. She stick with making it look a bit more 3D. Simple, since the last time she tried drawing anything was over two years ago. She examined her work then turned the page to start again._

_She sat there for hours, drawing, outlining, highlighting, adding tiny additional details. She'd lost count of how many times she turned the page a start a new piece. Her coffee remained pushed to the side and eventually lost its heat. She was finally startled out of her daze by her stomach complaining about the fact that nothing had entered its depths. Pushing in her chair, she checked the clock. Emily would probably be there to drop off her work in about an hour. All the supplies was left of the table as she rummaged through the fridge to find something she would be able to cook. A very faint vibration was heard and she quit her shuffling. She pulled her head quickly out of the fridge and hit the side of it on the door that had been leaning on her side in an effort to close. "Fucking stupid shit fridge…" She held the side of head and allowed the door to close. The vibration broke through her grumbling again. The noise led her to the bathroom where she'd removed her clothes the previous night. She sat on the edge of the bath tub to take the weight off of her foot and she answered the phone._

"_Hello?"_

"_What's good, Blondie?"_

"_Nothing really."_

"_That's too bad. Since I know you're just moping around your house, why don't you come out for a bit?"_

_She heard someone in the background talking to Cook. "Oh…" she heard him say._

"_So I've just gotten word that you've gotten yourself a bit hurt…"_

"_Yes."_

"_Does that mean you won't come out with Cookie?"_

"_That's exactly what it means. Unless you're Jesus and can perform miracles."_

"_Come on, I'll carry you everywhere you'll have to go."_

"_Sure you will."_

"_I swear it Blondie, I'll come to your house and throw you over my shoulder like a fucking sack of potatoes if I have to."_

"_Right. Well, if you're done wasting my time since I'm not going to come out, I'm going to go now."_

"_You're no fun."_

"_Mhm. Well…Bye."_

_She ended the call and exited the bathroom. Her stomach grumbled again and she resumed her search for sustenance._

_She had been halfway through her plate of food before the sound of a knock reached her ears. The plate was left on the table as she rushed to get to the door. She stopped in front of it and berated herself for rushing to it, especially since she knew who it was going to be. Her features feigned nonchalance as she waited a few more seconds before answering the door. Her mouth fell open in shock as the door knob was turned and the door opened slightly. She stepped back and Emily made herself known._

"_You should really learn to lock your door after I leave. I have many things, but not your keys, I can't do everything for you." Emily smiled mockingly. Naomi didn't answer. The redhead shut the door and kick off her shoes. "I knew you'd be standing in front of the door like that too." Emily laughed and disappeared deeper into the house. Naomi didn't even bother to get annoyed since the redhead had just waltzed into her house so many times in the past few weeks anyway. For what felt like the thousandth time, she followed Emily's path that led to the kitchen. Naomi began to panic as she realised that she had left all the graffiti supplies out in the open. It was too late when she arrived to find Emily looking, but not touching the materials._

"_What is all this?" She asked, her eyes sweeping over everything. She was genuinely interested._

"_It's just some…old stuff I dug up…" The blond scratched the back of her neck because the way Emily was analysing all the art was making her feel exposed and like she was the one being dissected._

_Naomi almost winced when Emily reached for her black book to see what she had been working on for the majority of the day. _

"_Wow…" Emily ran her hand over the page. "What does it say?"_

_Naomi made a face, "You can't read it?" She walked to stand beside Emily and looked over her shoulder. If she was honest, the piece was really quite complex and it probably looked like a jumble if nicely coloured in lines to Emily's untrained eyes. She saw Emily trying to squint the answer out of the page. Naomi let out a light chuckle and turned the book right side up. "Oh…Right…Well…I still can't tell what it says." Emily smiled sheepishly._

_Naomi smiled lightly and took the book from Emily's hands. "Look, the first letter is an S. It just curls a bit into itself for the tail to come through the top loop of the letter and to connect the second letter which is a P…"_

_The blond finished explaining how it formed the word. If Emily still couldn't read it, she didn't make it obvious and nodded along at the right moments of Naomi's explanation._

"_So it says…Spunk."_

"_Yes."_

_Emily laughed loudly, "Why would you write that?"_

"_Be quiet, it doesn't mean what you think it means."_

"_Are you sure there isn't something you're not telling me? A certain something hidden in those pants…"_

_Naomi rolled her eyes. "It was my friend's tag."_

"_Riiiight."_

_Emily didn't try to pry into why Naomi's friend would have a tag or even why she would be drawing graffiti in the first place. The blond grabbed the book from Emily's grasp and put it back in the box._

"_Now…where is my work? The thing you're actually here to deliver…"_

"_It's in my bag. I'll go get it." Emily turned on her heel and walked out of the room. She took longer than she should have in Naomi's opinion, so the blond went to leave the room. Emily was just coming back in and Naomi froze abruptly to avoid crashing into her. The redhead however, walked right into the blond anyway. The books were jammed into the blonde's stomach and she gasped for air._

"_Fuck, I'm so sorry…" Emily placed the book on the floor to help the winded blond recuperate from the blow. Naomi continued to clutch her stomach and Emily tried to soothe her by backing her into the kitchen, mindful of her ankle, to sit her down on a chair. She lifted the chin of the blond and asked "Better?" Naomi nodded and looked Emily in the eye. She became aware of their close proximity and she was once again unable to shake the thought of Emily attacking her neck last night. Emily cupped Naomi's chin a bit more firmly and her eyes searched the blonde's face. The redhead ran her index finger along the side of Naomi's face to trace her jaw line and part of her neck. "About last night…" Before the blond could protest the turn the conversation was taking, a bang on the door did it for her. Emily's hand dropped from her face and she stepped away._

_She let out a sigh of relief at the fact that they were once again interrupted. It was luck really, that everything seemed to be getting in the way of anything involving she and Emily._

"_Bloooooondie! I told you I'd be coming. In more ways than one."_

_

* * *

_

**_Vangoghgurrl_, That totally made me laugh. Good job. looool**

**_nzn_, Really, I love you for being so into it. It's really flattering. Thank yoooou.**

**_mau5_, Aw that made me melt. lmao I gladly ditched my essay, that shit was fucking boring. Thanks for your super kind and encouraging words. Actually, your story had been a favourite of mine for the past few weeks. I'm just really bad at reviewing 'cause I suck. Thanks again :D**

**_InMyShadow_, Well thaaanks ;D**

**_RuinMyLife_, I totally get it. If I didn't, I wouldn't be writing this story, ha. So you're not weird! Thanks again for the wurdz**


	9. Chapter 9

**HEEEEEEYYYYYY! This took forever. Sorry :D also I am knee deep in art work I was supposed to finish months ago but I never did (obviously). Art becomes a lot more difficult (in terms of _wanting_ to do it) when someone is dictating what you have to do. Not down. Soooo not down.  
**

* * *

"_Finish your goddamn smoke so we can go inside, it's fucking freezing out here."_

_Will was standing with his hands deep in his pockets, shifting from right foot to left foot to try and get his blood flowing faster to keep him warm. It wasn't working._

"_Pussy." Naomi shot, lifting the rigg to her lips. She sucked one last time before dropping the cigarette to the ground and exhaling. "Come on then." She walked passed Will and reached for the entrance of the lounge they were at. "Fucking finally." Will followed her inside and they climbed the stairs together. They entered the lounge and found a spot in the back near a wall to sit. A waitress brought them a pair of menus and Will smiled in thanks. _

"_So, our piece is still up at the entrance of China town on St. Laurent." Will folded one of the corners of the menu before choosing to close it since they always got the same thing._

"_Yeah, I'm aware, we walked right passed it to get here." Naomi smirked at Will's enthusiasm._

"_Well I'm just saying…usually it would be buffed by now."_

"_I guess they like it when there's a little bit of effort put into vandalism instead of just some ugly, quick tag."_

_Will shrugged and leaned back on his chair. "Freddie should be reaching soon."_

"_Yeah right. That guy never moves 'cause he's always way too blazed."_

"_Have faith." Will said with one last glance at the entrance before sitting properly and focusing on Naomi. "How was your trip downtown last night?" He grinned._

_Naomi rolled her eyes and waved the waitress back over, "Don't even go there. I'm pretty sure the story about Nix almost getting her finger bitten off by a homeless man has made its way into every writer's ear by now, including yourself." Will let out a howl of laughter then turned towards the waitress. He ordered for both himself and Naomi before asking "How does that even happen?"_

_The blonde leaned her elbows onto the table and held her head in both hands "I don't even know. One minute I was with Q finishing up a piece, the next minute there was a fucking scary looking man yelling at me. When I put my hands out in front of me to ask that he calm down, he tried to bite me. Did bite me, actually. He took a good chunk out of my palm when I moved so he wouldn't get my finger." She held up her left hand and showcased the bite mark on her palm right under her thumb. "It's fucking painful." Will chortled and leaned back on his chair again. "Hey! He's here." He waved just as Freddie spotted them. _

"_How are you, my good man?" Will held out his hand and Freddie shook it when he reached them._

"_Not too bad. Took forever to get here, the train was held up like a dozen times." He removed his bag from his shoulder and took a seat beside Will._

"_Fuck Freds, you reek of pot. Very subtle." Naomi held her hand up to her nose._

"_Well excuse me for indulging a little before I got here…"_

_Naomi snorted and checked the time. "The food should be here by now I'm fucking starving."_

_Will smiled at Naomi's impatience and rested his hands behind his head "Chill out. We've got tons of time."_

_Freddie clapped his hands together, "Okay, so what's the plan?"_

"_The same thing it always is. Move at nightfall, scope the place out, then hit." Naomi responded, scooting backwards in her chair as the food was finally delivered.  
_

_They spent the next few hours in deep conversation about their plan, with Freddie bumming food off of the other two._

_When they noticed it was dark out, they paid for their meal and left the lounge._

_The three of them walked for a while, with Will leading the way. He led them through many alleys and side streets and they cut through a few parks before finally finding their way to the correct building._

_Will was practically shaking with excitement "We're here, come through this side, it's less likely that someone will see us." _

_They checked around to see if anybody was looking. When they felt it was safe enough, they made their way to the left side of the building and ducked behind some bushes to reach their goal. _

_They were going to rotate keeping watch, with Freddie being the first to stand guard and make sure that no one took a leisurely stroll in their direction. _

_Naomi followed Will deeper into the back lane. They reached the unfinished piece and admired it before acting. Will crouched down and shrugged the bag from his back then he handed it to Naomi. He put his hood up and watched the blonde as she dug in the bag looking for the right cans and caps. She pulled out some pale blue paint and a skinny cap to accompany it and shoved them at Will before pulling her own hood over her head. She watched in awe as he began adding highlights to the darker shades of blue that had already been painted. It took him a few minutes to complete it and he put the colour back into the bag. He began to walk away to claim his role as lookout, but not before rubbing all the paint from his hands onto the back of Naomi's sweater. She dropped the bundle and pushed Will "Fuck, you fucking prick! If we get stopped on the street because of the fucking mess you made, I'm going to shove my foot up your ass." She craned her neck to try and get a look at her back. Will jogged away, laughing and Freddie appeared a few seconds later. He chuckled at the state of her and reached for the fallen package. Naomi's feet dragged her towards Freddie because she couldn't resist wanting to watch the process, however her infamous scowl still adorned her face. "Shut the fuck up, Freddie." _

"_Alright, alright." He put the can down and searched his pockets for something. A lighter and a spliff emerged simultaneously, both in different hands. The end of the joint was slipped between his lips and he lifted the opposite hand to light it up. The hissing of the butane intermingling with the spark was somehow soothing to Naomi and it urged her to hold her hand out. Freddie inhaled deeply then puffed the smoke towards her before removing the joint from his lips and passing it to her with a knowing smile. He bent down, chose his colours and continued to spray. They passed the spliff back and forth whilst judging the handy work as it went on._

_Freddie was about to start the outline when he froze. Naomi stopped talking and listened. There was a commotion penetrating the quietness of the alley and it was coming from the direction that Will was guarding. Will came into sight, before appearing to fall for no apparent reason. Moments later, three other figures presented themselves in the alley. The blunt fell from Freddie's lips as he dropped the cans noisily onto the pavement and walked quickly over to Will before the others could reach him. The three unknown people finally became visible and Naomi moved forward in haste to whisper to Freddie. "We ran into one of them weeks ago and kicked him off a painting spot…" He nodded and helped Will to his feet. Both groups stood facing each other in silence. _

_One of the others laughed and addressed his friends, "Look at them, they look so scared…" he took a step forward to stand directly in front of Freddie. They were roughly the same height. With the tips of their noses almost touching, he continued "Fucking toys all day. Little shits like you shouldn't be painting in the streets, friend." Naomi stepped up, "If I remember correctly, _friend_, your graff was messy as fuck and you were hardly able to outline for fuck's sake. _Your_ shitty scribbles shouldn't be on display, you cunt." The man's dark little eyes slowly shifted and rested themselves on Naomi. He laughed again and leered at her "I remember you. You looked like a sweet little thing, chasing us away with that pretty mouth of yours…" He groped for her and she slapped his hand away before it reached its destination._

_Will's vocal chords finally seemed to have learned how to vibrate, "Don't fucking lay a hand on her." Now the man's eyes moved slowly to pause on Will, but not before lingering on Naomi. She shuddered in repulsion. The blonde deemed the disgusting man doing all the talking the ringleader. He continued trying to intimidate. "I remember you too…" His body moved from Freddie's and went to stand before Will. Will was slightly taller, only by an inch or so. "Talking big because you were two against one. Now we're even." He gestured towards the other goons. "We can have an equal fight."_

_Freddie spoke up "We don't want any fights. We'll leave. You can have this spot. Cap it, buff it, do whatever the fuck you want." The ringleader sneered, "That ain't gonna be enough." _

_Suddenly Naomi was smashed onto the floor and she witnessed the first brief seconds of the fight begin before her head came into contact with the cement. It wasn't enough to knock her out, but it made her dizzy._

_She was on all fours trying to gather herself when someone tripped over her and she grunted in pain. She lifted herself and took in the sight before her. Freddie was grappling one of the guys and Will was pit against the other two trying to fight off both men at once. Insulted that the opposing fuckers would think she'd be taken out that easy, she propelled herself into a run. Her body was hunched as she came into contact with one of the men and she grabbed him around the waist to effectively force him to the ground. Her right shoulder ached as it had taken most of the force from the assault but she ignored it to get up immediately. The guy that had fallen with her was on his hands and knees and about to stand so she allowed her foot to be driven into his stomach. He fell over again and she landed another blow with her foot to his face. She hadn't heard the crack but she registered that his nose had begun to bleed as she spun around to aid Will once more. A hand acquainted itself with Will's face and he fell over from the impact. She started making her way towards the lead man but was grabbed from behind. Struggling against the grip, she swung her head back to try and hit the offender. It only bumped lightly into what she assumed was a chin. The person groaned before speaking, "Calm the fuck down. We have to fucking run, we've done enough damage." Freddie's calm voice broke through her rage. He let go of her but kept hold of her hand and they sprinted out of the alley. _

"_Wait! We can't leave Will!" She tried to pry her hand from his grip. _

"_Will is going to be fine. There's another way out of the alley."_

_Naomi eventually lost count of the number of turns they'd made before they stopped. Freddie sat down on a bench at a bus stop and Naomi followed._

"_Is he meeting us here?"_

"_Should be, yeah." Freddie winced in pain. "I think they cracked my ribs."_

"_Shit." She couldn't think of anything else to say. Her heart was still pumping wildly and it was difficult to breath._

"_Anything happen to you?"_

"_I don't think so…" she met Freddie's gaze and he let out a strangled laugh before swearing and cutting it off. He took a deep breath "You have a wicked black eye going on, Nai."_

_She slapped her knee in disappointment "Fuck. I don't know how I'm supposed to explain this to my mum."_

_A third voice cut in, "Just tell her that I punched you for being such a stubborn bitch."_

_Naomi leaped off the bench and jabbed Will in the shoulder. _

"_Stop hitting me!"_

"_Stop being a twat."_

_The three of them were silent as they listened for any signs of someone having followed them._

_When nothing was heard, they walked side by side down the street to begin the long walk home._

**ooo**

She was walking alone again. Well maybe not walking, but wrestling with the irritating supports that she still hadn't gotten the hang of using. She stopped to catch her breath and leaned on the crutches. They followed her movements and she almost fell over.

Righting herself, she ambled on, determined to reach her goal. A red light halted her first fluid stride and she swore loudly. The woman beside her looked at her apprehensively, as if afraid she'd be attacked. Naomi trained her hard stare on the woman until she looked away. The light turned green. Her arms and legs eased her more easily into a rapid flow. She didn't stop until she arrived at a large gate. She studied her surroundings uncertainly, before finally taking a step into the cemetery.

The were many small hills to pass and usually she would walk right over them but her ankle impeded her from taking the usual path. After many confusing turns and eerie sensations that caused her to shiver, she was stood in front of Will's tombstone. She walked behind it and dropped her crutches onto the grass before sitting very close to the grave and leaning her back on it, with her legs splayed out before her. Her eyes swept over the other stones that surrounded Will's. She contemplated whether they were all having a party underground and smiled strangely when she imagined all of them meandering through winding catacombs, some deviating from the path that all the dead took. The smile fell when she realised it was quite a grim thought. But she still couldn't help picturing them hovering together; dancing. A macabre series of steps that would leave you nowhere for eternity. Her fingers nervously tore at the weeds around her and dirt was jammed under her fingernails from the clawing. She stopped when her mind led her to thinking that she was trying to claw her way into Will's grave. When she was decidedly calm enough, she allowed herself to speak.

"What are you doing, Will? Why do you keep luring me to places? I'm trying to get over it…" Hands found their way into the grass again. "I know I should have tried harder to help you…" She sniffled and rubbed her nose. "But you have to leave me alone now. I love you, I do…but you make everything so hard." Her shoulders heaved as she took a heavy breath to try and keep her tears at bay. "I feel guilty about it every single day." She reached behind her and gripped the stone. "I miss you so much. You always knew what to do and who to let in. I've come to terms with the fact that without you, I don't know anything. So no one gets anywhere with me. The crew moved on, they're getting paid for what they do and I'm still fucking stuck. How do I get passed it? Can you fucking tell me?" She slammed her head back onto the hard surface and her tears slid down her face to land at the base of the tombstone. She took a shuddering breath. It hitched when she sensed a presence. Her eyes popped open and she looked to her left.

Freddie was standing a few feet away, looking at her. He smiled weakly before moving to sit beside her. He spoke, finally.

"Weird how we hardly see each other but we end up here on the same day." his head mimicked Naomi's position and he looked up at the sky. She wiped her face was answered.

"I felt like something…"

"Was pulling you here? Yeah, me too." He closed his eyes.

The only sound of life that was heard was their breathing. She decided to elaborate.

"I was with Emily and Cook when I felt it…we were on our way to Fouf's. I just had to leave."

She felt Freddie shake lightly with laughter. "It's a bit early to start drinking, no?"

Naomi sighed, "Well you know Cook. There's no stopping him. Especially when he went to every one of his class in a day for the first time since the beginning of the semester. It would be a celebratory drink and obviously, he would wake up tomorrow with a mean hangover and not show up to college at all, completely obliterating any tiny improvement…" Freddie nodded his head in amused understanding.

"I was with Effy and JJ…and Katie. We were planning a party. You are obviously invited." He opened his eyes and looked at Naomi.

She did the same, then met Freddie's gaze. "Well, thanks." They smiled at each other. She asked a question that she'd been meaning to ask for a long time.

"Do you keep in touch with anyone from the crew?"

"Only Q bothered to. I still see him a lot, yeah. And the two that joined right before you left. Thomas and Pandora. Do you remember them?"

"Of course." She smiled at the memory of the couple. "What are they doing now?"

"They were sent to New York to paint a mural. Long process apparently, they've been there a good two months now."

There was a short silence before another burning question flared up in her throat.

"Why didn't you help at the funeral?"

Freddie looked down. "I couldn't do it. It was so hard. I think you get that though." He looked at her again for confirmation.

Her head bobbed as she agreed. "I think most people that were there would have agreed that I needed therapy."

Freddie laughed loudly, "Yeah, I heard. Apparently you rambled on quite insanely and half the people including the crew didn't even know what you were on about."

Her face turned red slightly at the memory out of embarrassment. "Yeah well…They deserved it."

"Deserved what? Some lunatic brandishing a very frightening spray can in the air like a gun?"

Naomi nudged the boy with her elbow but laughed anyway. Her face fell abruptly.

"We need to do something."

Freddie's face contorted in confusion. "What?"

"We need to paint again…At least just once. Somewhere significant. Where people will see it. Where people can remember Will and FILTH…"

"Naomi…I haven't painted in nearly as long as you."

She stood up quickly, ignoring the jolt of pain that seared up her leg. "But that's it isn't it? Why we're feeling like he's calling us. We have to keep his memory there. It's the only way it'll leave us alone."

He copied her movements and stood beside her. "You're really freaking me out."

"Promise you'll help me."

"I-"

"Promise. When I call you, you'll come."

"Fine, okay…" he held his hands up. "But you're still scary as fuck right now."

Her eyes seemed far away. "Doesn't matter. It was nice seeing you." She grabbed her crutches and left him with a hug.

She caught the bus a few blocks away from the cemetery. It let her out somewhere downtown and she found her way to Fouf's with a new vigour.

She slammed the door opened and hobbled in. She was met with a lonely cheer coming from Cook, who was already plastered. "Naomi! You've returned! I knew you couldn't stay away!"

"Shut the fuck up and buy me some shots." From the corner of her eye she saw Emily emerge from behind a group of people that were crowded around a table. When she arrived at the table she handed Naomi one of the two beers she held. "It was going to be for him..." she pointed the bottle at Cook "...but I think he's had enough already." The blonde accepted the drink and took a seat. Emily pulled her chair closer to Naomi. Cook was left alone on the other side of the table. "Aw, come on! You should both be sitting on either side of Cookie." Naomi clicked her tongue in annoyance and rolled her eyes. She chugged the beer. A hand was lain upon her arm. "Is something wrong? Slow down a bit." She looked at Emily and was about to tell her to mind her fucking own business but the genuine concern in the redhead's eyes struck her down more than it usually did. She put the bottle down, throwing in the towel.

"Okay."

* * *

**I wasn't sure about this chapter. Something felt weird. but anyway, I noticed some words that have been used in previous chapters that might not be completely clear. But I think you guys are smart enough to just assume what it is or go with the flow lol either way,**

**buff: **remove the graffiti completely or painting over it in a solid colour like it was never there.

**cap: **painting over someone else's tag or piece with your own. disrespect dawg.

**crew: **most obvious, yeah? a group of people that do graff among other things together. funnn.

**_Vangoghgurrl_, It does feel fucking great. Thanks for your review. Glad you're excited for the updates.**

**_HyperFitched_, Ah well the speed I'm writing them is going down, unfortunately. I'm fucking swamped with work now. But it's completely my own fault so..lol. and I wish you luck with _your _work 'cause it's probably a lot more difficult than mine. scratch that, IS more difficult, ha. ****Thanks again! Hope you enjoy this one.**

**Peaaaace!**


	10. Chapter 10

_**This chapter takes full advantage of the "I'll teach you something by standing behind you and touching you" scenario.**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Naomi and Will were waiting around the outside of a metro station for someone to contact them so Will could make his usual purchase. Fits of laughter could be heard coming from somewhere behind the shelter. _

"_That was the most pointless shit I've ever seen." Naomi said, still trying to catch her breath._

"_God, I know. That's why I hate waiting here." Will stood up from his place on a bench and brushed his jeans off._

_They had been laughing at a petty fight that they'd witnessed minutes before. Will continued assessing the argument, "I can't believe how hard some of these thirteen year old kids think they are. That wasn't even a fight; it just looked like they were trying to feel each other up discreetly without seeming too gay." Naomi let out a short laugh and Will went on, "Actually, they looked kind of like you at a club when I see you and you've somehow ended up dancing with the girlies and you're trying to decide whether you should touch them or not when they get real close..." The blonde stopped laughing. Her only response was "Shut up." She crossed her arms over her chest and didn't grace Will with her full attention any longer. _

_Will walked around to the other side of where she was sitting since she'd turned in the opposite direction from him completely. He bent down to come eye to eye with her. "Come on, Nai. It was a joke." She didn't respond. "Nai…" he sighed and sat on the floor in front of her. "It's not that big of a deal…" She snorted, "Yeah, it's not for _you_." Will rolled his eyes and tried to ease the tiny bit of tension, "Look, the people we know could really care less what or who you like. Really. Just like…go with the flow. Don't dwell on stupidity like that, it's a waste of time to worry about it. It really doesn't need to be classified. You know what I mean?" She looked up, still pouting a bit and released a tiny "Okay." Will smiled, "Good." He got up just as his phone started to ring. _

_Naomi watched him answer it before he nodded at her and began to walk away. He stopped abruptly, turning to Naomi with a conflicted expression on his face. She heard him say "Okay, fine. Yeah. I'll send her." He hung up and said "They want me to send who I'm with to pick it up instead of going myself. Apparently they're being watched a bit and they've been seen with me a bit too often." Naomi slumped her shoulders in annoyance and replied "Fine." _

_Will pat her on the back, "Right then, It's the black Mercedes parked a block away from here. It should be stopped halfway in an alley." She nodded and began walking._

_Apprehensive blue eyes spotted the vehicle moments later and she stepped slowly towards it. When she reached the door, she put her shaky hand on the handle and opened it nervously before sliding in beside the driver._

_The man in the seat looked intimidating and it didn't help at all with the anxious feeling gripping her mind. He looked like he shouldn't be selling to two uncouth teenagers like herself and Will. She took a breath and he began to speak, "Word?"_

_She made a confused face, "What?" she saw him reach into the pocket that she was unable to see. He looked unwaveringly into her eyes. "I said, Word?"_

_Something dawned on her, he must have meant the password or something right?_

"_Uh…" She was about to embarrassingly stutter her way through the tiny word. "A-ashes?" His hand came back into view. He smiled a tiny smile "Good. You guys wanted a sept right?" She nodded._

"_Well…I am disappointed to say that we don't have a sept here today." Her view shifted lower as she watched the hand disappear for the second time. Her eyes quickly flicked up to the man's eyes again. She tried inconspicuously reaching for the handle on the door. The locks on all of the exits fell deeper into their cavities to bar the way out. She bit her lip, trying to calm the uneasy storm brewing in her stomach. Her body turned itself and faced the man once again. He was smiling derisively and holding something under his shirt. Finally the man spoke, but the daunting atmosphere wasn't broken "A little friend of yours has owed me money for a while…" She wanted to reach for her phone, anything; but the man exposed what was under his clothing. Her eyes widened in fright and her bottom lip trembled as the silenced pistol was lifted slightly so that the tip was pointed at her. It was not lifted very high to prevent people walking passed the front of the car from seeing it. He clutched the gun even more tightly, "After we were done dealin' with him, he told us we could collect from you…" _

_His opprobrious smirk widened and the pistol moved ever closer to her side. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment in an attempt to hinder the permanent quaver her entire body adopted. "Basically, you all have been sold out for doin' absolutely nothin'…" _

_He dispensed a tight laugh. It sounded as if it was something that was foreign to the normal functions of his throat and mouth. It sounded wrong, like there were rusty, aged gears working away in his throat, hardly able to function properly from being deprived of usage. The robotic laugh emerged again and she sucked in a breath at the horrible sound, "It's a little funny how scared you are…" the cap of the gun was pushed lightly into her side and she flinched. Her eyes opened and looked at him, "Well fucking excuse me for shitting my pants over the gun jabbing me in the side." The smiled fell from his face and the harmful instrument dug deeper into her side. "Pay up." _

"_I don't have any fucking money." She looked straight ahead, perking up slightly when she saw Will cross the street to reach the opposite end from where they were. She hid the anticipation as the man said again, "Pay up, or you'll leave this car with a bullet in your side." It was probably a stupid thing to do, but she felt that she had to distract him, so she floundered around in the box of the usual tones she used in everyday speech and settled on the most common, rude one. "Are you that fucking dense, asshole? I said I don't have any fucking money." She spat slightly on the first consonant of the curse word and it caused the man to angrily wipe his face. She cried out in pain as the gun was whipped against the side of her ribs. "Fucking dumb broad, aren't you?" she smirked to piss him off more and said "If you say so. I'm not the one in possession of a gun in the middle of the day just off a busy street." _

_In her peripheral vision she saw Will crossing the street towards them, slightly ducking behind a line of cars that were stopped at a red light. The man beside her missing it completely because he was turned fully towards her now, pointing the gun a bit higher. "This could be done quickly if you would just hand over your cash." She crossed her arms and shrugged, "You're dumb." She twitched in distress as the gun came to rest on her shoulder. She felt the man's hand shaking from the pressure his tight hold on the gun was exerting and she was about to insult him again when Will appeared at the window and quickly told her to duck down. _

_She ignored the bile rising slowly in her throat and threw her head down. Her abrupt movement surprised the man and he pulled the gun from her, giving Will the chance to smash the window with his cloth covered elbow. The glass shattered and flew across the back of the driver's head. He grunted in pain and Will reached in across the length of the driver's seat to grab the hand that held the gun. They struggled and Will's head was smashed against the side of the broken window, allowing the jagged edges of the glass to dig into his face. Will continued anyway and Naomi let her arm span its entire length to reach the child safety switch that was being obstructed by the tussle. She dug her hand behind the guy's arm that was pressed against the buttons and she flicked the switch. When her hand was pulled away she fumbled with the lock on her door, finally getting it open moments later and she stumbled out of the vehicle. She heard another loud grunt, a thump and the car's horn sounded very briefly before there was silence. She noticed people had gathered around to watch the battle instead of actually helping "Fucking assholes." she muttered. _

_Will came around the other side of the car and yelled "What are you doing? Run!" She bolted across the street with Will swiftly catching up behind her. They ran across a bridge-like structure that was situated over a highway until they made it to a street that was familiar to them. They stopped, breathing heavily, and Will said "Circle street. The best place to hide." Naomi smiled and continued heaving. When they calmed down, they sat themselves in a place that no one would be able to see them if someone walked down the same street they just covered._

"_How did you know to come?" Her mouth fell open slightly once she registered Will's bloodied face. _

"_Jesus Christ!" she gripped Will's arm._

_He chuckled lightly, the gash restricting him from smiling completely and said "Does it look that bad?"_

"_You need to get to the hospital." she shrugged her sweater off and pushed it into his face to try and lessen the blood flow._

"_Ouch. That really hurts." he said but didn't move. "I'll go soon. Anyway, I knew 'cause you were gone for way too long."_

"_He said someone sent him to get money from us because they couldn't pay it themselves."_

"_I figured. A friend from another crew said the same thing happened to him when I met with him yesterday. He ended up paying. But now I know who it was, we only have one mutual friend."_

"_What are you going to do?" Naomi removed her hands from the bundle of material and allowed Will to hold it himself._

"_Don't know. We need to lay low. We probably really pissed that guy off and he seems to know a lot of people. Don't leave a trail anywhere. No painting, no associating with people in that game, alright?"_

_She simply nodded in agreement. The shock from the situation fading as it settled in the bottom of her stomach. She didn't need to be told twice._

**ooo**

She had that same feeling in her stomach at the moment. She was lying down rigid and immobile with a lightly breathing redhead beside her. They were in the same bed but hardly touching and it still freaked Naomi out. Mostly because she has no idea how they'd even gotten home let alone how they'd ended up in her bed together.

Naomi lifted the covers and peeked underneath. They were clothed and this was a good sign to the blonde. She knew that in her drunken state she probably wouldn't have objected to _anything. _To put it plainly, she just gets super horny when she's wasted. She puffed her cheeks out and let her eyes float around the room that was cloaked in darkness. She wasn't sure if she should go back to sleep or move to sleep on the couch in a completely different room. One away from Emily. One where she wouldn't be tempted to burrow under the covers gleefully and express just how waking up next to the redhead really felt. Yep. She was moving.

She tried stealthily shifting herself across the way to the edge of the bed but it was making too much noise. Her head dropped to the pillow behind it and she whispered "Ah fuck." She wished for silk sheets; imagining a cartoon version of herself jumping into the bed and sliding right out quietly with a dreamy smile on her face. She shook the really dorky thought from her mind and continued trying to move inch by inch to the edge. Her leg managed to reach the edge and she bent it and lightly touched her toe to cold, wooden floorboard, with the rest of her body still lying rigid on the bed. She continued using her leg to turn the remainder of her body so that she could get the other foot down and get up. Her sly plan was thwarted when Emily just happened to turn around and throw her arm onto Naomi's face.

Naomi forced her mouth to stay on the first letter of the swear she was about to scream, creating a continuous F sound. Emily's arm moved again and landed on Naomi's mouth where the beginning of the curse word was turned into a loud raspberry due to the weight pressing onto her mouth. The loud, flatulent sounding noise that emerged from the compression reverberated off the walls and the blonde froze in fear of the redhead waking up. Naomi sucked her lips in and away from the arm leaning on her face in frustration, chanting a string of expletives in her head at the fact that only one of _her_ plans would backfire this embarrassingly. She felt movement coming from somewhere other than herself. Emily was shaking slightly and she heard the redhead take a deep breath before letting out a loud laugh.

Naomi planted her feet on the ground clumsily, paining her ankle and swung Emily's arm back in an attempt to make it hit the redhead the same way it had fallen onto the blonde's face. Emily sat up with a huge smile and continued laughing light-heartedly. The redhead was clearly still drunk as fuck. "That was fucking hilaaaarious!" she slapped her thigh to emphasise the hilarity.

"How did we get here?" The blonde asked with a scowl.

"Well…" The redhead got up and started walking towards Naomi, "We made out and you suggested taking it somewhere more private but I passed out before you could take my clothes off." Emily rested her hand on her hip.

Naomi's mouth fell open but before she could respond the redhead had launched herself at Naomi for a hug and said in a sing song voice, "Just kidding!" She hugged the blond around her waist tightly and rested her head against her chest. Naomi held her hands up like she had a gun pointed at her to avoid touching the redhead and she turned her body from right to left in an attempt to shake Emily off without touching her further. Her skin involuntarily became flushed due to most of Emily's upper body being pressed against her own. "Okay…just…um…" She tried in vain to peel Emily off but the redhead remained glued to her.

A tiny smile had planted itself on Naomi's face. It sprouted into a whimsical grin before she could disrupt its growth and she rested her hands on the redhead's shoulders to gently push her away. The smile was gone before Emily could witness it. The redhead pouted "You're no fun."

Naomi's face feigned boredom, "I get that a lot."

Emily grabbed one of Naomi's hands and pulled her towards the bedroom door to lead her into the hallway.

"Ouch, watch it, my fucking ankle…" The redhead loosened her grip to let Naomi bend down to feel around her ankle. When Naomi moved her face to look up, Emily was very close to her and peering down at her foot like it was the most fascinating body part she'd ever seen. Emily's eyebrows shot up "Are you okay? I'm really sorry."

She smiled sweetly and waited for the blonde to finish her inspection. Naomi felt a gust of wind brush past her and Emily was gone. She heard a faint "You need your brace!" Naomi sighed at Emily's vivaciousness and wondered how she could be so energetic after just having been passed out from the exact same source that was now providing her energy. She turned around to find the redhead clutching the brace close to her face like she was hiding behind it; all wide eyes and excited smile. Naomi rolled her eyes and the controlled part of her brain brawled with the part that was trying to get her to smile. She was handed the brace and Emily stepped back to watch and make sure the blonde put it on.

When it was secure, Emily reached for her hand again and dragged her the short distance to the kitchen. The box with the art supplies was messily shoved under the table and Emily charged for it, almost banging her head on the edge of the surface. "Christ, Emily, watch what you're fucking doing." The redhead crawled out from the space, dragging the box with her. She set it on the table and turned to Naomi again.

"Show me!" She joined her hands in a pleading gesture.

"What? No!" Naomi pivoted and tried to walk away but Emily took hold of the back of her shirt and pulled the blonde towards her. Naomi's back connected with Emily's front and the redhead rested her chin on the blonde's shoulder. "Pleeeaaaase?" Her hands came to rest on Naomi's hips and the blonde looked down at the small hands. Those tiny, tiny hands that wielded every ounce of power over herself. She marvelled over the diminutive appendages for a short moment before turning in the redhead's arms. "It's like three in the morning and the middle of the week. We need to sleep more." She made to move out of the grasp but Emily's hold became a fraction more demanding. It held the blonde in place.

Naomi watched helplessly as Emily leaned forward, stopping just short of her face and whispered this time, "Please?" The tiny puff of air from the redhead's mouth that accompanied the word should have been insignificant, but the way it almost frolicked across her lips made her feel like she'd just finished dancing and playing in a field full of butterflies. It was quite ridiculous. Naomi closed her eyes to block out the visual of Emily so it would aid her in extracting herself from the redhead's possession. But she didn't move, instead she agreed to show Emily whatever it was that she wanted to see. The blond felt Emily's zeal shift to the box in the room as she moved away but it was still prevalent. It was everywhere in the room, like it wanted to let Emily absorb every aspect that Naomi had just acquiesced to demonstrating. Emily turned towards Naomi and held out the black book while smiling brightly. The blonde took it and she felt Emily's devotion swell and engulf her like she had just fallen straight into the centre a cloud. She would be lying if she said it didn't feel magnificent. Her trembling hand put the book on the table and flipped it open to a blank page.

Naomi addressed Emily, "Do you want me to draw it all or do you want to do some of it too?"

Emily stopped admiring the bare page and answered Naomi, looking her straight in the eye, "I want to feel it."

The words hit Naomi as she struggled to understand what Emily had meant. Though, it seemed like her body already knew since it once again felt like she'd been struck by a SWAT team's battering ram.

She finally responded, "I'm not…I'm not quite sure I know what you mean…"

Emily occupied the seat in front of the book and ran her hand over the paper. "Show me how like…" she turned towards the blonde again, an almost pained expression on her face. It was gone in an instant when she continued her sentence, "Guide me. I want to know how."

"Oh."

Naomi moved to the back of Emily's chair, "Can I have the black marker?"

Emily leaned forward and Naomi stared at the fiery depths slightly below her. She couldn't tear her eyes away as she nearly saw each fiery strand waver and leap towards her. She concentrated on trying to get her sea coloured eyes to douse the flame. The fire was gone suddenly and was replaced by a soothing brown.

The marker was presented to her and she smiled in thanks. Emily turned back to the table.

"Okaaaay…" Naomi wondered how exactly she was going to _show_ Emily what she always drew.

"Uh…I guess…take this back and I'll guide your hand."

The marker was ripped from her hand by an ecstatic redhead. Emily tore the cap off and waited for the blonde to lead her.

Naomi leaned onto the back of the chair and placed her hand over Emily's. Their hands remained suspended over the page before Naomi decided that for once she wasn't going to think about what she drew. She was just going to let her hand guide her.

The mutual trembling present in both of their hands was arrested the second the tip hit the paper. With the marker steady, she drew line after line and curve after curve, creating a word that was unknown to her. She wouldn't know until the finished product.

It felt as if the contact between their skin allowed their arms to temporarily merge for the creation of this piece. It was necessary. The piece took control of them both and allowed their joined hands to flow over the page like a river finally flooding passed an old, obstructive dam. The water came to an edge and cascaded down a cliff, only to be caught by another stream. The torrent smoothed the jagged edges of the rocks surrounding the creek, threatening to completely immerse its surroundings. There was so much ink being spilt onto the page from each stroke of the felt marker tip. The liberating feeling descended upon both of them and they lost themselves for a while. One last brush to the paper was made before the tool left the page. The marker was put down beside the book but their hands remained clasped.

Naomi took in the piece that they'd just created. There were arrows winding in and around the letters, but they all pointed to the same thing. The word itself.

HEAT.

Naomi wanted to cry.

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**I just wanted to say that many graff crews are associated with street gangs (obviously? maybe?). The one in this story is not, however, people usually know people who know people and blablabla and sometimes both crews mingle and whatnot. Especially if people are into "buying/selling". So what happens in the beginning of this chapter is not very far fetched (unfortunately). The metro it takes place at is near my old secondary school and it doesn't have the best reputation (the school or the station). There are way too many stories to count about people getting jumped, mugged, beaten up, whatever. Anyway, yeah so just giving you a little background on why I chose the location for the memory.**

**_Vangoghgurrl_, looool well I guess this one was kind of those coming together. ha. Thanks for reviewing :)**

**_IxHeartxGlee_, Well thank yooouuu, keep readingggg!**

**_SummerSkins_, Super happy you liked the setting and concept. To be honest, I didn't even know where it was going when I did the first chapter - that's probably glaringly obvious though loool Thanks for stopping by and leaving something behind!**

_**AllICanDoIsBeMe**_, **I was iffy about my portrayal of Emily but thank you for pointing her out, it really gives a little confidence boost when it comes to writing her character. Hopefully you like this chapter :-)**

**_Naoemms_, haha, don't be ashamed, I know this story doesn't look too inviting from the summary alone. I should probably change it. You liking Will is a big compliment, since he was made from the ground up and ****obviously**** was not in the show. Hope this chapter is a good read.  
**

**_HyperFitched_, Ha! It's funny you said that about the intense cinematography thing. I didn't think it came across too much in my writing, but I guess apparently it does. I always imagine things dramatically even if it's something really anti-climactic like finishing a sandwich. Fun. I always love your input so keep reviewing! and a HUGE thanks for mentioning my story in your A/N. It is greatly appreciated. **

**OH SHIT. I've been meaning to link this thing up since like 3 chapters ago. Should give it a read. At least check the art out. It's fucking greaaaat.  
**

www[dot]mook-life[dot]com/the-fr8ophiles/

**Peace.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Heeeeeeey. I've been ill. The cold that's been plaguing me for the past month and a half finally decided to progress and then I got food poisoning from sushi. Mmmmh. On the flip side, I saw Harry Potter. My friend had to slap me quite a bit because every time Emma Watson said a line I turned it into to something filthy.**

**and Naomi's a pervert.**

* * *

"_Well tonight was pure shit.", Naomi deduced as she and Will swung side by side on two separate swings._

"_I think it was more…adventure-like." Will countered while lightly kicking up the sand in the playground whenever his foot came close enough._

"_No…" The blonde said and sharply turned her body to the right with force to make the swing jerk towards Will, "It was complete shit." She bumped him._

"_Fine, but now we know what not to do…" He stuck his foot out to push Naomi away in retaliation and continued, "…and where not to go."_

"_I didn't want to come to Nuns' Island anyway, it's like…so far." Naomi scoffed as she gripped the chain on the swing tightly with her left hand and reached for Will with the other. When she was close enough she tried curling her fingers around the back of his shirt, but her swing kept its rhythm and inevitably swayed away from Will, causing her hand to miss its target._

_Will dug his foot into the ground and hopped off the swing, "Far? It's only over a fucking bridge from the south shore you lazy fuck." He moved behind Naomi and fixed the direction she was swinging in, remaining behind her to continue pushing her._

"_Whatever, it's still way out of where we usually party." She relaxed in her seat._

"_It's more interesting when it's somewhere you're not familiar with."_

_She sighed in defeat, "Okay it was fun…but only before it was shut down."_

"_Hm…yeah at least we can explore this place a bit."_

"_We don't even have any paint and we're stranded here 'cause the last bus passed a million years ago."_

"_There's a few more hours to wait so we should find something to do." _

_Naomi dragged her feet across the ground the next time she was brought down by gravity and Will aided her by holding the chains of the swing and it came to a standstill. She stood up then picked up the bag that was on the ground beside her. "Well let's do something then."_

_Will wasn't paying attention; he was patting his pockets with a frown of concentration. Naomi tapped his arm questioningly, "Did you forget something?"_

"_I think so." His hands ran the search route a few more times before falling loosely to his sides in disappointment. "Shit. Shit. Shit. My wallet isn't here. I'm gonna have to go back to the house. Are you staying here or coming with?" _

"_I'll stay here."_

"_Sure?"_

"_I can handle myself, thanks."_

_Will walked off and Naomi travelled the few feet to a slide. She sat down on the end of it and pulled a rigg from the packet in her bag. It felt nice to sit in complete silence with her cigarette in a place that was mostly unknown to her. The tiny island was part of Montreal, but was somehow isolated from the city's bustle and noise. Its peaceful atmosphere was a welcomed change from when she would sit on a curb outside of a club downtown and have to watch people trudge along the sidewalk rambunctiously while drunk. Even the cars seemed to unintentionally run much more loudly when they rolled down the city's core streets. _

_She temporarily hindered her optical sense and focussed on her hearing. The light rustling of the trees and some faraway footsteps were heard. She continued listening with her eyes closed, the cigarette dangling perilously over the sand; it was forgotten and gradually burning away. She was able to discern that there were two pairs of feet unintentionally making their way closer to her. Eventually, as the footsteps grew louder, two voices joined the softly playing symphony. Her ears continued picking up the noise until they also caught the sound of her phone beeping once._

_The previously sleeping eyes snapped open as she shot her wasted cigarette to the ground and dug into her pocket for her phone. She read over the text quickly before she pressed reply a bit too roughly in annoyance. The received message had read "__**Still not safe to get into the house. Police still around. I have to wait for a bit. Not sure how long. Have fun in the park, kid.**__"_

_Before she could properly reply, a shadow obscured the already meagre amount of light radiating from the street lamps around the park. Naomi looked up and squinted to try and see who was standing before her. The person spoke before she could concentrate enough to see who it was._

"_Good night?"_

_The voice belonged to a girl, that much she knew. It reached her ears sounding like it came from deep in the girl's throat; slightly croaky, Naomi assumed it was from talking loudly or yelling. If the girl spoke any louder than the low tone she'd made her presence known with, her voice would probably crack._

_Naomi finally paid full attention to the girl's head. The light she was blocking was making her hair glow a bright red. It was familiar. The blonde finally answered, "Not really."_

_She watched the silhouette move closer before it lowered itself onto the ground, its head now becoming level with Naomi's knees. Light flooded the person's face and the light bulb was illuminated in Naomi's mind. Mysterious cafeteria girl. The girl grinned, "Not very chatty, are you?"_

"_I guess not."_

_The redhead tilted her head to the side and studied the blonde. Naomi raised an eyebrow, "What?" she questioned insolently._

_Her smile didn't falter, "I've seen you around school."_

_Naomi looked away as if the redheaded girl would realise that the blonde had noticed her as well. She grunted in response._

"_I'm Emily." A tiny hand came to hover a few inches from Naomi. She stared at it._

"_This is usually the part where you shake my hand and introduce yourself…", the redhead went on, not moving her hand._

_Naomi rolled her eyes and loosely took hold of the girl's hand. "Naomi."_

_The blonde was about to pull her hand back but Emily held it in place. "Well Naomi…" The redhead ran her thumb along the top of Naomi's hand, "I think we should see each other more often."_

_Naomi scrunched her eyebrows together and pulled her hand away a bit too roughly. She averted her eyes and looked up at a few trees before asking "Where did the other person go?"_

_Emily look confused, "What?"_

"_I heard two people talking before you arrived here on your own."_

_Emily's mouth opened in realisation. She looked to the side before continuing, "Oh…my sister. She continued down the street to find a bus."_

"_Bu-"_

"_There are no buses running now? Yeah, she went to check anyway. She doesn't listen to me."_

_Naomi shrugged in response. Her hands fiddled with the strings on her bag awkwardly before she decided to have another rigg. Pulling the packet out; she offered one to Emily. The redhead declined and Naomi was left lighting up by herself. The first puff calmed her nerves and the anxiety she was feeling over being alone with this new acquaintance. _

_The silence was eventually broken by an unknown third party cursing. Emily and Naomi both glanced towards the disturbance. The redhead laughed at the person who had gotten the heel of one shoe stuck in a damp part of the sand pit._

"_Would you stop laughing and fucking help me?"_

_Emily got up and walked towards the person, "Fuck, calm down."_

_Naomi watched Emily bend down and grab the person's foot. One of the girls stumbled, causing them to fall into a heap. They began arguing and Naomi watched on in amusement. The blonde let out a loud laugh and the tiny heap froze._

"_Who the fuck are you?" it said through one of two mouths._

"_I was here first. Who are you?" Naomi replied childishly. A part of the pile rose and stepped towards the blonde. Naomi could finally make out that it was indeed Emily's sister. She was holding her shoes in her hand this time; walking barefoot through the shifty ground, "I'm Katie, you fuckhead."_

_Emily walked quickly towards Naomi and stood beside her; laying her hand on the blonde's shoulder, "This is Naomi." She beamed._

_Naomi looked up at the girl who had spoken for her, "I could have done that myself."_

"_But you weren't going to. You were going to make everything much more difficult, huh?"_

_Naomi shrugged the hand off, ignoring the comment because she did have a sharp insult to jab Katie with on the tip of her tongue._

"_Wait a second…" Katie squinted her eyes in the dark, "aren't you that street punk lesbian who's into gangs and shit?"_

"_Katie!" Emily scolded, "Out of everything you could ask!"_

"_Well what? Everyone knows she's like…a criminal." Katie put emphasis on the last word._

"_For the record," Naomi cut in, throwing her cigarette to the ground and putting her finger in the air, "I'm not in any gangs. It's called a crew and we don't really do much."_

"_Except for mug people and beat the shit out of them…" Katie inserted._

"_And where did you hear that?" Naomi stood up._

"_Uh just about everywhere from everyone."_

"_People should keep their mouths shut if they don't know what they're talking about. Including you."_

"_Every rumour comes from somewhere. They don't just get started if something didn't spark it."_

"_Oh and I'm sure all the rumours about you fucking every guy in school are derived from somewhere as well?"_

_Emily moved to stand between them and faced Naomi, "Go sit your ass back on that slide." she turned to Katie, "and you stop talking smack." She nudged Katie in the opposite direction from Naomi._

_Naomi sat down and watched the two argue for the second time that night. Her heart rate was persuaded to carry on at a faster rate when she noticed Emily taking control. While the twins were distracted, Naomi took the time to really look at Emily. A top that hung off one shoulder was being sported, exposing the alluring curve that connected her neck to her shoulder and the slight dip from that area that allowed her collar bone to stand out in an appealing manner. Much to Naomi's sub-conscious disappointment, the shirt did not dive low enough to allow the admiration of the cleavage Naomi was positive was cached underneath. The blonde's view continued to shift downwards, but it was interrupted when the very body she was appreciating began moving closer._

"_Naomi?"_

_Naomi looked up to meet Emily's eyes. They held a knowing twinkle but her words didn't reveal exactly what she knew, "I have to go. Katie walked off somewhere."_

"'_kay…"_

"_So…I'll see you in school."_

"_Probably not."_

_Emily smirked and bent down. Naomi's eyes followed her face as it came closer. She felt soft lips plant a light kiss onto her cheek. They lingered for a second before Emily pulled back and smiled again._

"_I'll see you around." she affirmed.  
_

_Naomi didn't respond. Her brain combusted and it took with it the ability to do anything but sit there with her mouth hanging open as she watched the redhead retreat down the street after her sister._

"_Who was that? Did she just kiss you?"_

_Will appeared beside her and the fire in her brain was smothered. "I..uh…I think so…"_

"_Ha!" Will looked in the direction that Emily walked in and laughed. "Didn't know you were that slick, Nai!" He ran his hand through the side of hair to emphasise the word slick. "So again, who was she?"_

"_No one."_

A little fucking arsonist.

**ooo**

"Heat?" Emily asked.

Naomi gaped at the word; blinking only to keep the tears at bay.

"Does that mean something?" Emily questioned again, trying to get a response from the catatonic-like state the blonde seemed to have fallen into.

"Everything." Naomi whispered cryptically. She realised she was still clasping the redhead's hand and she let it drop onto the table. Her legs carried her away from the back of the chair and around the table to the front of the stove.

"Are you hungry?" she said suddenly, moving restlessly around the kitchen while opening and closing the cupboards. "There's nothing in here really…I haven't gone grocery shopping…" she trailed off. Hands were shakily skimming the top of every surface she could reach. "There's a bag of pasta here…" she pulled it out and carelessly flung it onto the table. "Some glasses…" was muttered as she pulled two from their hiding quarters and tried to place them carefully onto the table. Her hand was shaking so severely that it accidentally knocked the glass off the table. She quickly put her hands over her ears and scrunched her eyes shut before the glass could be heard shattering. The sound would be too overwhelming.

A long moment passed until she felt she was able to let herself feel again. She opened her eyes and took a breath then her hands fell from her ears. Emily was standing about two feet away from her with a worried expression. "Are you okay?" she asked as she bent down and started carefully picking up the pieces of glass.

"I'm fine." The blonde replied and walked to where there were pots hanging. She grabbed one and filled it with water. The stove was turned on high and the pot was placed on a burner. Naomi turned to face Emily and leaned against the large appliance. "You should finish that piece on your own." Emily found a bag and dropped the glass in before tying it and putting it on the counter where they could grab it later to discard it.

The redhead took the seat closest to the blonde and shrugged, "I wouldn't know how to."

"I just showed you how!" Naomi snapped, gripping the edge of the stove tightly.

Emily stood and reached for one of the blonde's hands. It uncurled itself from the tight grasp around the ledge was placed in the one of the redhead's hands. Emily clasped it between both of her palms and raised it to rest it against her lips. When she spoke it was a tiny whisper, "Tell me what's going on, Nai." The redhead's eyes latched on to Naomi's intently and they begged her for answers.

A lone tear made its way down Naomi's cheek. It was brushed away by Emily's free hand.

"After." the blonde choked out. "I can't do it now." she pulled her hand away and turned her torso for a brief moment to glimpse the water in the pot. It wasn't ready. Turning back to face Emily, she surprised the redhead by stepping forward and enveloping her with her arms. Emily hugged back protectively.

With her head buried in Naomi's shoulder, Emily laughed. "Naomi?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm still drunk."

Naomi pulled back, her eyes still glassy and she flicked the redhead on the nose. "How much did you drink before I even got there?"

"Quite a bit. Blame it on Cook."

The blonde smiled and rested her hands on Emily's hips. The redhead did the same. They stood there casually as if Naomi had always allowed such close proximity.

"I don't think I'm going to college tomorrow." Emily giggled; her eyelids drooping.

"Are you eating now? I didn't just put this here for no reason."

"I want to." A yawn escaped Emily's mouth. She tried to hide it.

The sound of the agitated water in the pot broke them apart as Naomi reached for the bag on the table. She ripped it open and poured the pasta into the pot. When it was ready, she prepared and served it.

The only sounds that were heard as they ate were the forks scraping the plates and the occasional short chuckle that Emily was unable to hold back as she thought of something funny.

Naomi looked down at her plate and thought of what she was going to say when the time came to explain to Emily why she freaked out so often lately. She pierced a piece of food with her fork and lifted it to examine it. It reached her mouth moments later and she closed her eyes in satisfaction. She had been starving. The sound of her own chewing almost distracted her from hearing the strange sounding thump that came from across the table. Her brow furrowed and she looked up.

Emily's face was buried in her half eaten plate of food.

Naomi dropped her fork onto the plate and shook her head in disbelief. She pushed her chair out and went around to Emily to lift her head out of the plate. Holding the back of her head, Naomi moved the dish. She almost jumped away when Emily suddenly let out a laugh that was reminiscent of Cook's. Mouth wide open and eyes crinkled at the corners, she laughed for a long time. The blonde grabbed a cloth and wiped the redhead's face like she was a child.

When Naomi was done she commented "I don't think your tiny body can handle any amount of alcohol."

Emily slouched in her chair but was smiling still "Shut up." She drawled.

The blonde heaved Emily out of the chair by her underarms and she helped her to the bedroom. Emily flopped onto the bed and began to hum a tune.

"Please tell me you're not going to be doing that all night."

The redhead sat up on her forearms and tried to make a suggestive face, "I could be doing _you_ all night."

Naomi stopped pulling the comforter up over Emily to nod her head at Emily with a mocking smile. "Right. Of course." She threw the cover over Emily's face and the redhead flailed around drunkenly, unable to rid herself of the sudden darkness. "Ah…fuck…shit…slut.." She finally succeeded and came out looking like she been fighting with something worth the effort and not a piece of light material. Her hair was sticking up and she was breathing heavily.

The blonde made a noise at the back of her throat that signified that she was trying to hold back her laughter.

"Oh shut up, you wouldn't have done any better with those weird…snaky arms."

"Snaky arms? Is that the best you can do? I'm _so_ offended." Naomi held her hand to her heart.

"Yeah well…" Emily raised her fist and stuck out her index to point at Naomi, "You fucking should be." She shook her hand and tried to look menacing.

Naomi fixed the sheets and finally hopped into bed. "Don't go feeling me up now."

"Pft as if anyone would want to touch you. You're gross." Emily settled herself underneath the blankets.

"Tell that to the part of your brain that's constantly undressing me." Naomi pulled her side of the duvet up.

"That's every part of my brain." Emily said, eyes closed with a wide smile.

"Pervert." Naomi shot as she turned to lean her elbow in the pillow so she could hold her head up.

"Excuse me, you're just as bad. I clearly remember you trying to get a look at my breasts the night of that party on Nuns'" The redhead mirrored the blonde's position.

"That was like…over two years ago."

"But you're not denying it."

"Whatever, bitch." Naomi rolled over and laid her head on the pillow. She was still smiling.

She felt something creeping up her side and she hugged her arms closer to her body to prevent the hand from going any higher. "_Emily." _she warned. The only response she got was a loud guffaw. Emily's hand moved back down but it then flattened itself on Naomi's stomach and pulled her entire upper body so that Emily was half spooning her. "You know this would be a lot easier if you participated." Emily said into her neck.

"You didn't ask me if I wanted to or not."

"I don't have to ask."

Naomi turned her head slightly, "You're a cheeky little shit, aren't you?"

Emily's laugh was lower than before. It was released as a low hum because she kept her mouth closed. The comfort of the bed was beginning to lull her to sleep.

The blonde moved back fully and Emily tucked her legs underneath Naomi's.

"Don't think you're off the hook, you still have to tell me." The redhead murmured.

"I know." Naomi whispered.

* * *

**Wah. Way shorter than the other chapters that I've recently been putting out. Sooorry brahs!**

**_HyperFitched_, The food fights are always the best. Emily always did seem to have the patience of a saint, so it works out really well for this aaand like I said somewhere in a previous reply, I sooo regret having a ded willeh. But I mean, it really wouldn't have the same impact if he was alive so. Thanks fo' bein' a regular!**

**_IxHeartxGlee_, My pleasure ;)**

**_SummerSkins_, Naomi is a little struggler when it comes to fighting the inevitable. Whatever, we all know it never works lol. Thank you!**

**_Naoemms_, Yay for your review! haaaa, oh sly, I really turned the tables there. Thanks a lot!**

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, Emily's a little sneak. She gets everywhere. and again, I'm so glad that many people like Will, so thanks again! :)**

**_RuinMyLife_, Hahahaha, what Emily ends up doing in this chapter must be ridiculous more than cute though. Falling asleep in a plate of pasta is always really sexy, right? Thanks for leaving a shout despite your fatigue.**

**and big thanks to whoever favourited and alerted. you all get a big thumbs up.**

**Peaceeeee  
**


	12. Chapter 12

_She grabbed the tiny piece of steel wool and began rubbing the metal surface. The heat radiating from the sun was causing her to sweat through her t-shirt. Her shorts were riding up and she constantly had to pull them down. A bead of water rolled down the side of her temple and passed her cheek until it ran right off her face to dive for the ground. The rubbing continued. Tiny bones were visible in the top of her hand as she pushed the rough material against the wall and scraped it as hard as she could. She altered which foot she was leaning on time and time again because the pavement was so hot that it was burning the pads of whatever foot came into contact with it._

_It was the middle of July; a month after Will's funeral and two weeks after her trial. She'd been pinned down for countless fines to be paid for the destruction of property and they were making her wash any graffiti they saw fit. Not even just her own tags and Will's. Every single tag or piece that looked similar to theirs, she would be forced to clean. That's a hell of a lot of tags considering many of them are just white with a black outline when they're done quickly. Basically, she was being held responsible for a huge percentage of graffiti in the city that she hadn't even done._

_When her breathing became laboured, she took a break. She sat down on the sidewalk and grabbed one of the many bottles of water piled beside her and drank greedily. The suction from her mouth made the bottle collapse into itself and when she released it from her mouth, it made a loud pop. She chucked it behind her carelessly and leaned forward to hold her head between her knees. Even with all the water she had been given, she was sure she was developing heat exhaustion. Her head was pounding and she felt overheated, but she wasn't allowed moving from the area even for a tiny bit of shade until a worker came and let her off. She rubbed her forehead then pulled her hand away in disgust to stare at the moisture on her hand that her body was expelling. It was rubbed into her shirt because the shirt was damp with sweat anyway and it wouldn't really make a difference._

_With the sun still beating painfully down her neck she stood and grabbed the wool once again. Her hand shook with frailty and she let it fall with the wool against the metal wall. She took a step forward and rested her head against the wall as well. Breathing through her nose, she tried to throttle the whirlwind she was feeling in her stomach. It grew quickly into a tumultuous tornado and pushed its way up her oesophagus. She was inevitably compelled to open her mouth and breath. The breach allowed the contents of her stomach to spill from her mouth, down her chin and continue its revolting trail down her shirt. Another wave oozed from her mouth and trickled down from the corner of it. _

_When she felt she was able to move she bent down to reach for another bottle and cracked it open. She spit onto the ground numerous times before drinking. The water washed away the vomit in her throat and she swished a bit around her teeth before ejecting it onto the floor. Weak knees hit the ground moments later and palms rested themselves on the scorching concrete. She crawled to where she had kicked her shoes off and she put them on sluggishly. Pausing for a moment she folded her fingers in and rubbed her palms nervously. They slipped against each other and she became aware of her clammy hands. She pushed herself off the ground and walked slowly down the street. All the cleaning supplies and water was left on the side of the road for people to trip over or steal. She walked until she found an entrance to a mall. _

_Upon entering the building, a bout of dizziness overtook her and she almost collapsed against another pedestrian. The man held her up for a few seconds until she regained her balance before continuing on his way, most likely thinking she was a junkie from the state of her. She felt her heart pumping erratically as it struggled against the abnormal elevated temperature of her body. _

_Finally, a cold rush of air hit her as she entered a second door. Her lungs took in an enormous amount of air in relief. The dizziness subsided somewhat and she walked more steadily through the throng of people. She noticed some looked at her with disgusted expressions but she couldn't care less; she just needed some ice and water. Weaving her way through the collection of stores, she came to a food court. Desperate eyes observed the queues to every restaurant outlet for the shortest one and she bolted for the one that only held a single person. When the client was done she advanced and waited for the cashier. The employee noticed Naomi and started walking towards her, but froze and looked around frantically when she saw the blonde's shirt. Naomi rolled her eyes and waved her over. _

"_I just need some ice and water, please."_

_The cashier nodded mutely and fetched two cups off the counter. She filled one with ice and the other with water. The cold cups were handed to Naomi and she smiled in thanks before jetting off to locate a public bathroom. _

_Finding one at the end of the eating area, she barged in and quickly locked herself in a cubicle after achieving more strange looks. She pulled her shirt off, took two handfuls of ice and stuffed them down her bra because it was the closest she could get to holding the crystals to her chest without using her hands. Another two handfuls went down her pants to relieve the sickly, unnatural heat rising between her thighs. The cup of water was lifted and she leaned over the toilet to pour it over her head. It splashed everywhere despite her attempt at minimising the mess. She grabbed a few more cubes and put them in her mouth before leaning on the door to rest._

_The ones who made her do all of this work outside during the summer could go get fucked by a group of orang-utans if she was supposed to let herself practically shrivel up in the heat. _

_One of the bits of ice slid down her throat and she felt its chill descend until it reached her gut. When all the cubes in her mouth were consumed she reached for more ice and held it against the back of her neck for a few minutes before switching to her underarms. She felt infinitely better, however, she still had a headache and the fatigue she was now experiencing probably wouldn't subside until she got proper rest. _

_Steady hands picked up the dirty t-shirt and discarded the cups. With her bra and crotch soaked with water, she exited the cubicle and stood before a sink. She looked up and didn't bother being startled by the mess on the other side. Sunken eyes, cheek bones protruding too much from her now gaunt face and dry, cracked lips were the usual reflection nowadays. Throwing the shirt in the sink, she turned the tap on and let it soak in the water for a while. Someone entered the bathroom and Naomi heard the footsteps stall upon seeing her before they scuttled into a cubicle; quick to get away from her._

_The blond reached for the soap dispenser and pushed the button many times to get a good amount. She spread it all over the white material in the sink. The other girl in the room emerged from behind a door and came forward to wash her hands. They stood side by side while awkwardly avoiding the others' glance in the mirror. Naomi began roughly rubbing away at the shirt with her hand. She felt something touch her bare shoulder. Her head snapped to the side and she saw the girl standing about a foot away from her holding a clean shirt. The girl offered it to Naomi. The blond took it cautiously then slipped it over her head. She smiled at the kind girl and threw the dirty shirt from the sink into the trash can._

"_Thanks."_

_The girl's blue eyes remained trained on her and the blond regretted taking the shirt because now she felt even more exposed than when she was half naked._

"_No problem…" Penetrating eyes moved downward and took in Naomi's emaciated form. "You need to eat."_

_Naomi scoffed and shrugged, "I think I can take care of myself."_

_An infuriatingly knowledgeable but sad smile was shot towards the blond. "I'm buying you a meal." She said and didn't move. _

_Naomi looked around to show that nothing was actually happening, "Wow, I can practically see the food right in front of me."_

"_You have to follow me then." The brunette said as she exited the bathroom._

"_I ain't following anyone." The blond shot. _

_She heard a low "You'll come." before the door closed behind the girl._

_The blond stayed in the washroom before cursing to herself and following the girl outside. She located her and sat down where she was seated. _

"_I told you." The girl smirked._

"_Yeah okay, whatever…" the blond replied, "…but who the fuck are you?"_

"_You can call me Effy."_

"_Effy as in…Stonem, Effy?"_

"_Sure."_

"_Stonem, Effy as in…Freddie's Effy?"_

"_Why does that sound possessive? I don't belong to anyone."_

"_Whatever, can you just answer my fucking question?"_

"_I am somewhat involved with him, yes."_

"_You know the crew? You knew about me before you even gave me this shirt…"_

_Effy raised her eyebrows in challenge to the blonde's accusations. "Would you shut up and eat the fucking food?"_

_Naomi finally realised that there was a huge tray sitting in front of her. She looked at it then back at Effy before picking up the fork and shovelling a bunch into her mouth. She hadn't been eating properly due the lack of time and pocket money. Her mother was stuck paying thousands of dollars in fines and Naomi sure as hell didn't want to ask her for even more than what she was already doing. The blond couldn't get a job because the cleaning work took up all of her time and she still had many more hours to do. She was fucking screwed for a long time._

_Eating at home was not an option. It was too distracting to sit in a place that she and Will had loafed around often when they had nothing better to do. She had tried to eat while sitting at her kitchen table but she just ended up staring at the opposite wall and thinking. Just thinking. No moving. Hoping not to breathe._

_Her thoughts were interrupted by Effy standing up and looking like she was going to leave. Naomi finished her mouthful and was about to speak but the brunette cut her off, "Take care of yourself, Naomi. I'll be seeing you." and she sauntered off._

_Naomi was left by herself with the pile of food._

What the fuck?

**ooo**

"**You're fired."**

"**What!?"**

"**You haven't been in for nearly two whole weeks with no phone call."**

"**You can't just do that!"**

"**I can. You could have salvaged this by just making a simple phone call."**

"**You can't do this…my mu-"**

"**Your mum got you this job because she thought you would do it well, maybe even show up."**

"**Please, I'm sorry…I got injured…still am…and…"**

"**No. We already have someone to replace you."**

"**Oh I see, you've been looking for the perfect opportunity for years to fire me? Well…I hope you slip and fall and the fucking phone gets jammed up your fucking rectum, you cunt."**

**Naomi slammed the phone back down onto the receiver and breathed deeply to ease her frustration.**

"**What's happened?" Emily asked as she entered the kitchen with wet hair and baggy clothes that belonged to the blond.**

"**Nothing…I just…got fired from my job…" Naomi rubbed her forehead then put her head down into the table.**

**Emily dragged a chair closer to Naomi's seat and sat down beside her. "Why?"**

"**For not showing up…in two weeks." She looked at Emily.**

**The redhead gave her a pointed look, "Well from what I remember you've hardly moved from this apartment in two weeks so he did have all the right to fire you…"**

**The blond groaned at Emily's logic and turned her head away from Emily in defiance because she knew the redhead was right. A hand came to rest on the side of her waist. "You can always get another job, Nai…There are a ton out there…"**

**The blond let out a disgruntled sigh, "It's not about the job itself, for fuck's sake I don't give a crap about that shitty fucking store anyway. My mum got me that job after…" Naomi paused, unsure whether she should continue or not. Continuing would mean opening the flood gates earlier in the day than she had planned to. "…after…my friend Will died."**

"**Will? That's the one…"**

"**That you asked about last week and then I ran off? Yeah." The blond turned her head to face Emily again.**

**Emily smiled, "Is this you keeping the promise that you made to the drunk me?"**

"**I think it is." Naomi smiled tightly before getting up and shuffling around the kitchen. She flicked the kettle on to boil the lukewarm water a second time and went to the fridge. "I met Will in primary school." she started and moved alphabet letters on her fridge around unproductively. "It doesn't matter how we began talking. We became friends and were inseparable for years." Her finger hooked itself into the tiny curve in the letter W. "We entered high school and joined a group to do art…the crew." Naomi turned towards Emily to make sure she was listening. The redhead commented, "That's the group Katie was talking about the night I met you, right? I thought she was just misinformed and that you weren't actually part of one…"**

"**Not all crews are involved in gangs, Emily." Her body faced the fridge once more and sought out the second letter to Will's name. "We did graffiti, but we never participated in all the violence that many other crews did." She dragged it to float next to the first letter. "Anyway, he showed me the ropes and we painted together all the time. He was like my brother. He looked after me…Saved my life countless times actually…When we got pulled into the wrong thing." Locating the L, she slid it beside the I. "He was that guy you saw me fighting with on the floor that day in the lunch room…" **

**Naomi delayed her search to glance at the redhead to see if she was going to comment. Nothing was said. The blond turned back to fridge and realised that she didn't have a second L. She sighed a bit dejectedly and continued, "The crew, including myself did paint illegally. We were considered criminals in that sense, but we never hurt anyone…" she reassured. "Unless we had to." Emily perked up slightly. "There were many instances that we had to fight our way out of a confrontation…" She smiled to herself and flattened her hand over the E. "We always ended up getting away somehow…whether it was luck or if we were just that good at running…" The E was moved to stick about an inch away from the first L. "Anyway, he watched over me more than anyone should ever have to watch over another person. I think he somehow knew that I needed a support system to get me through and he didn't mind. He accepted me no matter what I did, even if the crew didn't agree with the way I lived…" She looked down for a moment to gather her thoughts. "He was…like…the legs holding me up and the veins in my body. He's responsible for every bit of the good person I became throughout my teenage years, if I did at all. I was there when he died. It happened right in front of me…" A shuddering breath was taken in and she picked some of the cheap paint off a magnet. "We were painting in a place that was almost like a hall of fame for writers in this stupid city…Fucking ironic that he should get hit by a fucking train while doing it." she felt her eyes well up and heard the chair across the kitchen scrape the floor as Emily got up. **

**The redhead's steps stopped right behind Naomi and the blond muttered "Don't…" when she felt like Emily was going to reach out for her. Instead she saw two hands steady themselves on the fridge on either side of her shoulders as Emily encased her but didn't touch her. Naomi felt Emily's body heat from a few inches away and knew that the redhead was standing very close. The heat penetrated the blonde's cold exterior and urged her to continue.**

"**I spent a year after his death in shambles, hardly talking to anyone. That's why you didn't see me at college or anywhere else for that whole year. Then my mum whipped me into shape and got me that job to help her pay back the fines and we had to move into this apartment because it more affordable than owning an entire house…then I applied to college and now I'm here. Living alone in this apartment like a miserable fuck 'cause my mum probably couldn't stand being around me."**

"**Hey, that's not true. Your mum fucking adores you and you're not alone. I mean, look behind you." Emily's tone turned playful with the last few words.**

**Naomi chuckled briefly and waited for the inevitable attempt at being consoled that she always hated. It never came, but Emily followed up with, "Now, I think that…we should do something fun." She removed her hands from around the blond. Naomi turned around "What?"**

"**Let's go to the old port."**

**Naomi grasped for an excuse to say no "I don't…I can't walk…"**

**Emily pushed her against the fridge with a firm hand and smirked "Don't give me that bullshit, you've been thumping around this fucking apartment all night and most of this morning with absolutely no complaints. Grab your fucking brace and we'll go."**

"**Jesus, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Naomi asked exasperatedly. Secretly, Naomi was glad Emily didn't try to offer any kind words concerning what she had just let loose. If there was one thing she hated, it was being pitied or being on the receiving end of a half-assed pick-me-up speech.**

"**Absolutely nothing. Hurry up. Do something, shower, whatever." Emily moved out of the blonde's way. **

**Naomi went to move passed Emily when she felt a tap on her bum. She paused mid step and revolved slowly, "Did you just slap my ass?" her eyes became narrowed in accusation.**

"**Maybe. You shouldn't allow it look so nice." Emily replied with a cheeky grin.**

**Naomi rolled her eyes.**

"**Christ."**


	13. Chapter 13

**What's good, you lovely people? This week's a busy fuckin week so this might be the only chapter for a tiny while. Also, my whole semester's worth of art work was ruined because someone really smart decided they were going to move everything under an opened window while it was raining. And that is SHIT. Just thought I'd say.**

* * *

_Naomi leaned against the guard rail behind her. She looked down and huffed when her easel with all its creative tools did not assemble themselves to prepare for the long day ahead. It was early in the day and not many people were wandering the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal. In fact, the only people out and about that she had seen had all been people looking prim and proper readying themselves for work. It freaked her out a little. Usually people around here were fucking creepy or weird._

_There were a few people sleeping on some benches a few metres from where she stood. They were bundled up tightly in many layers of clothing to keep themselves warm during the night's chill. The sun would be suspended high in sky soon and they would have to remove most of their attire. She turned around to take a look at the horizon. Her eyes followed the shape of the docks and she counted the number of boats that were stationed on the harbour. Sure enough, when her eyes finally became unglued from the boats, she noticed the thin line peeking over the faraway hills that meant that the sun's light was going to flood the side of the city she was standing on in the very near future. She watched as the tendril of light became larger and began overtaking the water's blue hue by skimming over the top of it. The sun's rays grazed every tiny ripple and embellished the water with a golden crown. She lifted her hand to the collar of her shirt and unhooked the sun glasses she had dangling there. Her eyes were shielded just as the blinding beauty crept up her form and settled on her face. She closed her eyes and relished the feeling of the warmth infiltrating every expanse of skin, even through the clothes she was wearing. When a light sheen of sweat covered her forehead, she turned around. Removing the glasses, she opened her eyes and took in the light reflecting off every surface in front of her. The buildings, the trees, the people, everything looked luminous. She liked the way the leaves on the trees looked most. They glowed a rich emerald green and fluttered slightly when the wind brushed through them, livening them up. It made them look like they were taking their very first breath of life._

_She looked down and the supplies strewn across the ground snapped her out of the daze she had been in. The easel was then lifted to stand upright, but she couldn't be bothered to get her paint out. Instead she selected a few graphite pencils and clipped a paper to the side of the wooden frame that wasn't meant for a canvas. She still had a few hours before people, mostly tourists, came to populate the area. A light gust of wind swept through the area and ruffled the paper. Her hand reached up to hold it down as the other grabbed a second clip for the bottom of the page. When she was done, she looked around and her eyes got hooked onto the clock tower that was across the water, on the other side of the docks._

_Hours passed and the sun shifted into its noon position; the time when its rays were the most powerful, however, this time she was prepared for its force. She tied her hair back and knocked off the cap that she had hung on the left corner of her easel. She put it on with much more enthusiasm than necessary and reached for the glasses that had been removed before. With her face almost all covered, she turned to face the now more active street. A group of people smiled at her politely as they passed, but they didn't stop. This didn't deter her, she just continued trying to grab the public's attention. Finally, a man approached her to request a portrait of his daughter. Naomi nodded vigorously but questioned how she would be able to do so without the girl standing in front of her. He laughed and glanced behind him to say something. A tiny form then peeked over at the blonde form behind him. The girl was shy, still not moving completely from behind her father. Naomi removed her glasses to reveal her face because she figured it would make the child feel more comfortable._

_"Hey!" Naomi greeted the little girl exuberantly before waiting for her response and smiling kindly._

_"Hi." The girl whispered, gazing at Naomi through wide eyes._

_"I'm Naomi," the blonde said whilst sticking out her hand. "What's your name?"_

_The girl revealed herself completely before taking a step forward to grasp Naomi's hand in her own miniature one. "My name is Valerie," she paused, her lips curling slightly at the edges as she became more at ease. "Can you draw me?"_

_Naomi eyes crinkled at the edges as her smile grew, "I sure can. Why don't you have a seat on this crate here…" she trailed off and reached for the large cube a few feet away. She placed it next to the stand and flipped the sketch of the clock tower over to unveil an unblemished piece of paper. The sound of the father talking to his daughter was heard as Naomi finished setting up. _

_"Come on Val, go sit down." the dad said._

_The blonde waited until Valerie sat on the crate and faced her._

_"Okay Valerie, are you ready?"_

_The little girl gave the green light and Naomi began sketching._

_A quick twenty minutes passed before the blonde was done drawing. She ripped the page carefully from the book and handed it to Valerie. The girl bounded off her seat and showed it to her father proudly. He smiled then lifted his head to address Naomi. "How much do I owe you?"_

_She shrugged and replied "I don't know, whatever you think is right."_

_The man flipped his wallet open and handed her a ten dollar bill._

_"That's a bit much, no?" she commented unsurely. "Usually people just give five or less…"_

_He shook his head "You did well and got my girl to smile a bit. She's usually too shy to even open her mouth to say hi to someone. Thank you."_

_"It was my pleasure."_

_The family walked away and Naomi turned back towards the pad of paper._

_"Didn't think you'd be so good with kids."_

_Naomi whirled around to locate to source of the voice. Emily stood a few feet away, bags in hand, with a smirk on her face._

_"What are you? Some sort of creepy stalker?"_

_"I wouldn't call happening upon a friend in a public place stalking." she dropped her bags and walked around Naomi to sit on the crate._

_"Well I consider the fact that you must have been watching me for roughly…" the blonde checked her watch. "…half an hour pretty scary."_

_"It was twenty minutes."_

_"Still."_

_Emily leaned forward to get closer to Naomi, "It's always excruciatingly difficult for me to take my eyes off of you."_

_The blonde's mouth hung open for a moment before she recovered and said "Can you not be a horny hump for at least a minute?"_

_The redhead threw her head back and laughed, "Around you? Not a chance."_

_They stayed silent for a moment before Emily smiled deviously at Naomi. "I'm here for a reason, you know."_

_One of the blonde's eyebrows shot up, "Are you?"_

_"Yep! Draw me." she sat up straighter, crossed her legs and placed both hands on one knee. She smiled dazzlingly at Naomi. The blonde was toast._

_"Um…No?" she tried._

_Emily shook her head and laughed, "I'm paying you so you have to do it."_

_"Well…What if I say that I don't want your money?"_

_"I'd say that it's your loss and that you have to do it anyway."_

_Naomi clicked her tongue and tilted her head, "Get naked, then." she was sure that this would repel the redhead…or not._

_Emily's smile was sultry as she called Naomi's bluff. She uncrossed her legs and unhooked her hands to reach for the hem of her own shirt. Her back was straight as the material rose slowly. Naomi stared at Emily's newly exposed skin as she silently freaked out. This was a public place. People were walking around. People were probably watching Emily practically giving her a strip tease. This should be something only she got to see. The last thought startled Naomi and she lunged forward to grab Emily's still high riding shirt to pull it back down._

_"What the fuck is wrong with you?" the blonde snarled._

_"Only doing what you requested." Emily grinned smugly. She pulled the shirt back down. "I wouldn't have done it all the way, obviously. I was just checking to see what you would do."_

_Naomi rolled her eyes and picked up a pencil. "Shut up and don't move."_

_Emily complied and looked the artist straight in the eye as she posed._

_Naomi studied Emily's face and their gazes locked briefly before the artist put pencil to paper. The focus was going to be the eyes. Emily's fucking gorgeous, sparkling brown eyes. The blonde took down every twinkle and shade of colour that was swirling in those intriguing whirlpools. Long eyelashes only added to the not so subtle beauty radiating from the redhead. Naomi incorporated every tint from the outside light that darkened or lightened the areas of the redhead's face. The shine in Emily's bright red hair was brought to life in the drawing, even when it was done within the limits of a grey-scale. Her lips held that complacent smile that she always wore around the blonde; the one that knew she already had Naomi eating from the palm of her hand. The sketch ended with the elegant arch of the redhead's neck as it held her head up fiercely._

_Naomi's hand fell from the paper. She looked at Emily once more and then scrutinised her work, already finding that even if she had tried her hardest, it still didn't do the firecracker justice._

_"Can I see?" Emily pleaded._

_A paper was torn from the pad once again and was handed to the subject. Brown eyes lit up even more when they fell upon the sheet. "Wow…" Emily muttered as her hand gingerly held the paper as if it was the most fragile thing in the world._

_Naomi suddenly felt self-conscious, "It's not as good as the real thing." she blurted._

_Emily's head snapped up and she smiled shyly at the blonde's outburst. "It's great."_

_"Thanks."_

_Their silent connection was broken when Emily fumbled with the paper to reach one of her pockets._

_She pulled out a phone, "Hello?"_

_Naomi watched Emily as she spoke to the other person on the line. The redhead's forehead creased and she nodded her head. "Yeah…I'll come soon. Bye."_

_Emily looked disappointed as she stood to stretch her back. She picked up the bags and moved them all to one arm so she could hold the drawing from the blonde without damaging it. "Here, reach for my wallet." she turned with her back facing Naomi. The wallet was held in one of her jean pockets. The blonde tried to retreat again. "It's okay. You don't need to pay me…" _

_"Just hurry up and get it, Naomi."_

_Naomi looked around like they were committing a crime and reached for the pocket. She dug her index finger into the tight material and tried not to imagine touching Emily anywhere else. Bare. Without clothing. Shit. The little leather pouch was finally freed from its glorious prison. The redhead opened it up when it was handed to her and she tried giving the blonde an unnecessarily large amount of money._

_"What the hell is this? I'm not taking that." Naomi said incredulously._

_"Just take it."_

_"No!"_

_They quarrelled for a few minutes before Emily threw everything except for the paper onto the ground. She dug into her wallet for a five bucks and handed it hastily to Naomi. "I don't have time to argue with you."_

_She moved strangely close to the crate before scooping the bags up and heading off. "See you at school. Nice hat, by the way."_

_Naomi touched the top of her head and cursed when she realised she'd been wearing the nerdy Disney land cap the entire time. She ripped it off her head and sulked._

_The blonde spent the next few hours entertaining herself in the most absurd ways. Like when she noticed a couple of pigeons perched on a wire she had proceeded to created an entire dialogue that consisted of them meeting, getting married and one of them eventually cheating with a more plump looking pigeon that arrived later on. _

_Only a handful more people stopped to request a piece of art from her. It had been a particularly slow day after Emily had gone. She eventually decided that it was time to leave. The sun was now sinking lower into the sky, making everything yearn for its soft caress of light. _

_She went to lift the crate and something was almost blown away from underneath it. Her foot came to stomp on whatever it was and she pumped her fist in triumph. The wind continued its attack and she waited for it to stop before she deemed it safe to remove her foot. It had been stepping on a twenty dollar bill. The same twenty that Emily tried to give to her earlier. She picked it up and scowled at it. Her fingers flipped it around and there was a tiny scribble on the back. It was a heart. She pocketed the money and continued cleaning._

_That Emily just never gave up._

**ooo**

Clumsy feet drove Naomi to stumble over herself and she cursed. "Fucking stupid road."

"That was all you, Nai." Emily giggled, helping steady the blonde.

Naomi dusted the bottom of her jeans off, "Shut up."

"Where should we go now?" the redhead wondered, ignoring Naomi's rude response.

"I don't fucking know. You're the one that brought us here." A scowl appeared on the blonde's face.

"Lighten up."

Emily walked ahead of Naomi to look around at all the old fashioned buildings. The blonde jogged to catch up then followed her lead and also studied their surroundings. Every structure looked like it had so much more thought put into it than modern day architecture. The detail noticeable in every curve of the stone was so much more interesting than the shitty dwellings that were built too quickly nowadays to actually be sturdy. There was absolutely no care or purpose but to house a larger amount of people for a larger amount of money.

A squeal of excitement came from Emily and Naomi stopped walking. "What?"

"There!" Emily pointed to guide the blonde's view to something down the street. Naomi's face fell as a chariot rolled towards them with two horses trotting happily in front of it. "No way." she stood rooted on the spot with her arms crossed.

"Oh my god, you are so boring. I'm getting on." Emily stomped towards the carriage.

"I am not boring!" Naomi yelled after her.

Emily waved at the man controlling the horses. He halted the animals and waited for the slight girl to climb in. The blonde rolled her eyes and sighed because Emily was struggling to pull herself up. Naomi reluctantly walked all the way to the chariot and grasped the redhead's thighs to aid her. When she was safely inside, Naomi lifted herself into the seat. They stared at each other; both of them with one eyebrow raised, challenging one another. Eventually, Emily faltered and they both fell into a fit of laughter.

"Ready to go girls?"

"Yeah."

A few minutes in and Naomi was already complaining.

"Fucking hell, my ass feels like its getting split apart in this fucking shitty seat."

"It's all part of the experience."

"What experience? Getting your ass pounded by a piece of wood?"

"You should have chosen a better set of words. That sentence gives me unbelievably weird images."

"I hope they scar you and you never sleep again."

"That's not very nice."

"Am I ever really nice?"

"Good point."

Naomi looked to the side to enjoy the view of the passing streets; the carriage still jarring against her body painfully. It was definitely going to be sore by the time she stepped out. She was zoned out for a few minutes before she felt Emily shift closer. The blonde looked at Emily and leaned away from her.

"What are you doing?"

Emily stretched her arms back and pretended to yawn. Her descending arm came to rest on the back of Naomi's seat.

Naomi chuckled at Emily's transparency. "I've probably mentioned this before, but you're really subtle."

"What are you talking about?" The redhead raised her eyebrows and feigned innocence.

Naomi shot her a pointed look and nodded her head towards the conspicuous arm. Emily followed her gaze and looked in the same direction. "Whoa…Naomi?"

"Huh?"

"There's a fucking arm around you!"

The smile that was threatening to come forward on the blonde's face was only held back for a few seconds before her facade cracked. She looked away and down the street as she grinned. Emily shook the other girl's shoulder lightly to get her attention. When blue finally met brown, the redhead smiled softly and said "You're really fucking stunning when you just let yourself be."

The artist withdrew internally and manoeuvred her gaze to rest on the dirty surface below them; away from Emily's intense and brutally honest stare. She felt the arm return to rest beside its owner and she studied the ripped, sullied leaves near her foot that were left behind by other people. From the corner of her eye she witnessed Emily's hands fidgeting nervously; she was probably berating herself for being a bit too up front this time. Another brief period of silence passed before Naomi looked up and rested her hand on the redhead's thigh as a means of communicating that everything was fine. Emily shouldn't have to feel bad if it was the blonde who was fucked up. The redhead brought her hand up to graze her fingertips along the digits of the hand propped on her leg before she took another chance and grasped the hand firmly.

Emily leaned forward to talk to the man in the front seat before settling back down beside Naomi. The rest of the ride was spent in comfortable silence.

The horses made them stop around the same spot where Naomi used to draw her portraits. They climbed out of the painful seats and Emily pulled the blonde along the road whilst dragging her other hand along the railing. She grimaced at the filth that got smudged onto her hand and wiped it on her pants, still dragging Naomi down the sidewalk.

The pair came to a stairwell that led to the docks and they quickly scampered down. Emily steered them to a tiny boat furthest away from where they'd descended. She pulled a tiny key from her pocket and dropped the blonde's hand to step onto the unstable craft.

"Since when do you own a boat?"

The redhead shushed her before biting her lip and successfully unlocking the little entrance that led to the indoor compartment of the boat.

"It's my dad's. He was supposed to haul it off the water soon because it's getting too cold so I nicked the key for us before the planned removal next week."

They stepped in and Naomi had to tilt her head completely to avoid hitting it everywhere. Emily bounced around happily as her head was in no danger of getting mangled by the low ceiling. The room was cramped and the blonde stayed in the same place as she watched the little fireball bound around the room to clear whatever she could. Emily stopped moving and allowed herself to fall into a seat. She gestured to second chair across from her to make Naomi sit down.

"So why are we here exactly?" she asked while occupying the seat. The couple of people and chairs in the room didn't leave much space so their knees were touching even though the seats were pushed as far away from each other as possible.

"I just thought it would be a good place to hang out…" Emily sat up and dug around her back pocket. She pulled out a tin and opened it to reveal a few joints.

Naomi's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Since when do you carry a tin of fucking spliff around with you?"

"I do a lot that you are not aware of." she raised the joint to her lips and lifted her fancy fucking lighter. When she flicked it, the flame exploded out of the tip and to Naomi's eyes it seemed as though the blaze should have burned straight through the top of the ship. "Jesus Christ, is that medieval torch really necessary?"

Emily sucked on the end of the blunt before replying, "Sure it is. Much more fun than your little pussy lighter." she exhaled and passed it to Naomi.

The blonde plucked the drug from between the fingers that held it and leaned back, "How's your sister?"

"Wow way to make a conversation take a pleasant turn."

Naomi grinned and continued smoking, "Sorry, I was just being polite."

"She's well. Actually I was supposed to accompany her to a party last night…"

"But instead you got mad wasted and passed out in my pasta."

"Well…Yeah."

Emily reached over for the spliff, "For real though, things have been going really well between us. Her claws have retracted. She's not nearly as overbearingly protective…"

"And your mum?"

"Hm…Could be better. She gets props for trying though."

Naomi nodded in understanding. "Gayness is so shocking these days." she deadpanned.

"My mum tried to take a short cut once when she was driving us all to a dinner party and she ended up cutting through the village and fucking freaked out when she realised."

"How could she not notice right away? The vibrant flags everywhere are a pretty clear indication…"

"I don't even know. It was pretty entertaining though."

The conversation lulled while the spliff was finished. They sat, just enjoying each other's company.

Naomi was observing something outside of the tiny window when a thought came to mind, "Will and I used to come to the docks a lot…" she stared absent-mindedly, not really paying attention to what she was seeing and instead choosing to focus on her words. "We came here to think and talk about what we would do in the future, mainly." Her dreamy gaze fixed itself on Emily. "He didn't really like talking about what he was going to do later on in life. I was always one for planning ahead so I couldn't help myself…" The high she was experiencing was taking a strange turn and she began to feel uncomfortable. Emily noticed the change, "What's wrong?" she knelt in front of Naomi.

"It was a bad idea to mention Will now…shit." An overwhelming feeling of paranoia surged from her brain and her eyes darted around nervously. She imagined some movement coming from the corner of the room and she said "I'm starting to feel like Will is watching me."

Emily began muttering and shuffling around on the floor trying to locate something. She crawled under a tiny table that was pushed to the side and emerged moments later. A pack of cheap markers and a tiny board with an eraser came with her. "Okay, concentrate on me." Naomi nodded.

The redhead began scribbling something down on the board that the blonde couldn't see. Emily lifted the board when she was done and asked "What is this?"

Naomi studied it carefully before guessing "A really ugly pig?"

"Right!" she rubbed the marker off and grabbed a different colour to start again.

"This one?"

"A dairy cow being mistreated and then torn apart."

Emily faces scrunched as she turned the board towards herself to look at the weird lines that didn't really look like anything at all. "No…Let's try again."

She drew a bird then lifted it in front of Naomi's face.

"A bird."

"Good!"

This went on for quite a while until the blonde announced that she had calmed down.

"Wait, I have one more…" Emily's tongue stuck out slightly as she concentrated hard on the last scribble. She pushed it into the blonde's lap. "What's this one?" she asked, looking all too excited.

"It looks like…two people holding hands."

"More specifically…"

Naomi looked at it once more and noticed two pathetically drawn blobs of colour over the stick people's heads. One was red and the other was yellow. The blonde beamed and replied slowly "Emily and Naomi holding hands." she looked at the girl on the floor.

Emily leapt up and shoved the board out of the blonde's lap to replace it with herself. "You're so fucking right!" she shouted gleefully.

Naomi closed her eyes, relaxing for once, just letting herself feel the body above her.

* * *

**I'm not sure if this is obvious or not but village = gay village.**

**_Vangoghgurrl_, magnet fiddling always leaves me disappointed because there are rarely any double letters. Of course, a million thanks for your constant reviewin'.**

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, I assume that's fahrenheit rooooight? On the really shit summer days in Montreal it reaches around there as well. Oh the humidity. Hope you like the ever present chipping away in chapter, cause there's a lot of it loool. Thanks.**

**_HyperFitched_, I really wish I was able to carry around a tiny inflatable pool with me everywhere during the summer. It would make things much more bearable. Anyway, YES. I was really looking to make the reader almost feel what Naomi was going through in that particular scene, so yay. Thanks yoooouuuuuuuuu.**

**_CrashKill_, Thank you, kind reviewer.**

**Peace and love, people.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Wooow almost a week of not getting a chance to write anything. My heart was breaking. It's fuckin' late. I'm usually wrapped up in my bed super early but I had to get this out before I returned to writing 9034570394 essays that are boring as fuck. Plus this was nagging at me nonstop and it kept distracting me from writing anything else. So here it is, oh and there might be something in the flashback that makes you slightly uncomfortable, but I don't think I wrote it well enough to leave that much of a mark, but just in case...yeah, letting anyone know. and whatever it is doesn't go all the way like...completed.  
**

* * *

_Naomi shoved the can back into her pack out of frustration. She was halfway through a piece and she couldn't bring herself to finish it. It just felt wrong. Doing it by herself went against the whole point of what painting meant to her. It always had to be done with Will and now he wasn't there. _

_The zipper to her bag was almost broken as she yanked it closed and threw the bag over her shoulder. She trudged through the tall grass and swore when something pricked her leg through her jeans. Dropping the bag, she leaned down and pulled up a leg of her jeans. Nothing serious seemed to have happened. The skin was just a little bit rosy. She pulled the material back down and grabbed the bag again. This time she let it drag on the floor beside her. Mud was streaked across the bottom of it by the time she reached an actual road. She hung it on her shoulder and couldn't care less if the dirt was going to rub off onto her sweater. _

_Her feet began feeling heavy quickly and frankly she just wanted to get home and crawl into her bed. She found the closest bus shelter and waited for the very last bus._

_When she entered the vehicle, she took a seat all the way at the back. Laying her feet on the chair in front of her, she looked around at all the other patrons. There was a group of four guys that she assumed were around her own age sitting together. She noticed they kept stealing glances at her and sometimes they would even all turn at the exact same moment to stare. Annoyance trickled into her already sombre mood due to their lack of stealth in eyeing her, but she tried her best to ignore them anyway. Her eyes remained focused on the outside, watching the blurs of colour go by._

_Eventually, she stood and pressed the button that alerted the driver that someone had to exit the bus. A few steps forward and she looked up to accidentally meet the eyes of one of the boys. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place it. She flew by him and quickly escaped through the back door. _

_Her feet were about to lead her to turn a corner when she heard someone shout from down the street. She turned to check what the disturbance was and the four guys were quickly gaining on her. Cussing, she sped her legs up into a run because whatever they wanted with her, it probably wasn't good. _

_The bag that sat on her back thumped against her spine and an ache developed on her lower vertebrae. The bottoms of the cans were digging into the same spot over and over. Legs pumping and lungs burning, she turned down a side street to throw them off. She stopped abruptly and bent down with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Low vibrations from the building she was standing behind could be felt. Eyes swept over the area and she realised she had ran behind a club. Feeling marginally safer, she continued walking slowly._

_A foot other than hers was heard stepping on the wet ground. Then a few more. She froze and revolved to face the people. They advanced on her threateningly. Every time they took a step forward, she took one back. Her heart flew into an uproar and her breathing quickened out of fear. She decided she might as well ask what the fuck they wanted. _

"_Why the hell are you following me?"_

_One man stepped forward, "You clearly don't know me…" the other three men surrounded her. There was no escape. "But I know you."_

_She grimaced, "What the fuck are you on about?"_

_He eyed her up and down as he answered her question, "You were at a club a few weeks ago. You sweet talked my girl into letting you buy her a drink…"_

_A memory came to the forefront of Naomi's mind. An attractive girl sitting by herself in the corner of the club, looking extremely unhappy…Naomi drunkenly clamouring towards the girl and striking up a conversation…_shit_._

_She did what she does best._

"_From what I remember, she didn't need much convincing….and you weren't doing much since she was sitting there looking miserable while you probably went to feel up a bunch of other women. Maybe you should keep a better eye on your actual girlfriend…"_

_He stepped forward and nudged her hard. "Watch your mouth, girl."_

"_How do you even know it was me anyway?_

"_I got an earful all night about the lovely blonde girl with the beautiful blue eyes that was part of a crew…" he paused for a moment, deciding what do say next, "A man doesn't want to listen to his girl talk about how she practically wanted to fuck some dyke."_

_Naomi flinched slightly at the last word, but tried to hide it by moving around and taking a step back. She ended up flush against whoever was behind her and she was shoved forward. Her head collided with the chest of the man who was talking and he grabbed her upper arms to hold her away. He squeezed and she hissed._

"_And then…" he shook his head and laughed, "…she said something about filth. I thought that sounded familiar so I asked around and it turns out the little cunt slut that was chatting her up was part of a rival crew…." His face came to hover mere centimetres from her own. "What a great fucking excuse to teach you a lesson…." the hold tightened and the man's thumb pressed into her bicep. "The cops will just see it as a gang dispute, they won't look too far into it." _

_She felt his hot breath sweep across her face and she swore it probably killed at least a few layers of skin for how foul it smelt. Even with fear crippling any movement she would be able to make, she turned her head to escape from the oppressive loom of his face. One of his hands moved to grab her chin and yank her head to face him again. He clutched it so tightly that her mouth was forced opened. Her eyes shut and bolted themselves closed as she watched him lean in. The cool, dehydrated lips pressed against her own and she felt her insides shrivel up like an insect in the sun. But she felt cold. Like a vicious blizzard had devastated the internal part of her body, causing it to become a companion of the arctic. _

_The anatomy that was supposed to be in her control betrayed her and began to lie dormant, as if she had really dumped herself in a snow bank to become numb. She was unable to move her face and she asked herself if this is what giving up did to you. Did it allow you to become frigid? Did it debilitate your body to the point where you couldn't move even a finger? Did it quell the blazing fire of every desire in your heart and mind? _

_Something in her snapped. She pulled her face back and began struggling to get free. Her abrupt change of heart startled the perpetrator and she managed to rip one arm from his grasp to swing it into his side. Just when she was on the verge of succeeding in getting her second arm free, she was pulled backwards by the other three and she lost her footing. Everything went fuzzy for a moment as her head slammed into the pavement. She tried to sit up but a weight pressed itself onto her abdomen and she forced her eyes to focus. The man was now mounted on her hips and holding her down. His hot, nauseating breath brushed the inside of her ear as he spoke, "Now I'll show you what a woman should really be doing instead of trying to get into my girl's pants." _

_Both of her arms were held out on either side of her by two of the other men. Her legs that were kicking and trying to knee the man in the back were jerked apart by two rough hands. She felt the man lean over her and he advanced his hips to settle between her legs. He kept pushing until she felt his excitement chafing against her jeans and she cried out in fear. The pressure was raised with every thrust until it hurt and she wondered when they would just remove her clothing and get it over with. She felt herself slipping away as a defence mechanism to block out what would soon happen. Something changed._

_He was gone and she faintly heard a group of footsteps grow further and further away. She didn't remember when he had let her go. All of a sudden someone was next to her and trying to help her up._

"_Come on, just get the fuck up." The person pulled at her left arm but Naomi was dazed and remained dead weight. "Shit…" her arm was dropped. _

"_Cook! Cook, for fuck's sake get over here!" The voices conversed and she heard them as weird wavering sound bubbles that passed through her faded consciousness. She was lifted onto something and her body sagged against it. She passed out completely._

_**ooo**_

_Her body bolted off the bed she was in as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. Heart palpitating so hard that she could feel every throb pressing on her brain, hands clammy and lungs quivering as she took several shuddering breaths. She stumbled around the room even though she could see quite clearly and fell over with her elbow being the first body part to touch the floor. It made a loud thump and she turned on her back to cradle it against her chest. She heard footsteps and voices once again._

"_Did you hear that?"_

"_I think she's awake. I'll go check."_

"_No, I'll go check."_

_The door swung open seconds later and almost squished her head against the wall. _

"_What the fuck are you doing on the floor? Thought you would have enough of lying there for one day."_

_Naomi stared wide eyed at Katie, not quite believing that her saviour was the little spitfire._

"_Stop staring at my tits and get back on the bed…" she paused and seemed like she was mulling over what to say next. "…freak."_

_Naomi smirked at the measly insult and did as she was told. She sat on the edge of one of the beds and looked around the room more freely, feeling stupid for not noticing the dozens of pictures framing the two sisters. _

"_You better be thankful that I was nice enough to lend you some of my clothes, bitch."_

_The blonde looked down and saw that she was wearing sweat pants and a tiny shirt that hardly covered her entire torso. "So…Why am I in your clothes?"_

"_Well getting thrown all over the wet floor kind of makes your clothes dirty."_

_Flashbacks then bombarded Naomi's mind and she realised that what had happened wasn't a dream or something her mind had conjured up. She sat up quickly and said "I have to go."_

"_Excuse me, I didn't get my sister to change your clothes just so you can run off on us."_

"_What?"_

"_I sure as hell wasn't going to touch you…"_

_The door to the room swung open and Emily thundered in, "What's taking so fucking long? I'm waiting down there like a fucking idiot and no one is telling me how she's doing!"_

_Naomi addressed Katie "You told her what happened?" she spat._

_Katie rolled her eyes and put her hands up "Whatever." she walked out of the room._

_Emily sat beside Naomi. "How are you feeling?"_

"_Fine."_

"_Don't be short with me."_

"_I can do whatever I want."_

_The blonde felt a hand rest on her lower back. She moved away from the contact. No one was touching her for now. _

"_Don't touch me, okay?"_

"_Okay."_

_Naomi stood and began pacing around the room. Emily watched the blonde's expressions change as the gears in her head were pushed to start turning. They were trying to make Naomi come to terms with what had almost happened. She was trying to figure out who led those guys to knowing who she was when they hadn't seen her at the club. Only her crew knew about her…"slight" inclination towards girls. No one had displayed any outright resentment when Will let it slip accidentally. Someone must be a little liar._

_She glanced around the room to search for her coat. When she spotted it, she grabbed it and shoved it on. Emily stood in front of her._

"_Katie told me what happened…"_

"_How much did she see."_

"_She says she heard most of it."_

"_Right and she couldn't interfere sooner?"_

"_She was alone; she had to wait until Cook got there…and she wasn't sure whether it would escalate."_

"_Whatever." Naomi pulled her hood up and made to exit._

"_You don't have to leave."_

"_I'm going."_

"_I won't hurt you like them."_

"_Fuck off." She pulled the door open and walked into the hallway to find the stairs. The redhead followed._

"_Please, Naomi…I'm like you, I wouldn't hurt you."_

"_Like me? You can't be like me. I'm not anything…I'm not anything to anyone."_

_The blonde flew quickly down the stairs to get away from Emily. She was about to open the front door when the redhead grabbed her arm. "Naomi, please…"_

_Naomi wrenched her arm away and went out the door._

"_Just stay away from me."_

**ooo**

Naomi's hands slid around to link together on the other side of the smaller girl's waist. Her fingers pressed lightly into the girl's lower back to feel her muscles rippling as she laughed. She concentrated hard on the bout of blithe intonation and fell deeper into the canyon she'd been trying to crawl out of for years. The voice modulated to a lower tone before silence overwhelmed the pair in the tiny room. No one moved and they both realised the implications that their position had. With Emily straddling Naomi's lap and Naomi's hands stroking Emily's back like the only reason they existed was to please the redhead. The hands eventually slowed their movements to try and be subtle about having been massaging the body in their possession.

Naomi's head fell forward to make her forehead rest against Emily's shoulder. They breathed together for a few seconds before the blonde felt Emily's chest vibrate with speech. "Naomi…" she coaxed, trying to get the blonde to look up. Her head remained bowed until she felt two hands move to either side of her neck. They lifted her head back up and Emily's thumbs now stroked her cheeks. Dark, chestnut coloured eyes bored into a raging cerulean sea; trying their hardest to abate it. Surprisingly, it seemed to lessen in intensity. The eye of the hurricane.

"What are you afraid of?"

The loaded question. The storm came to a lull and let Naomi regain the function of her mouth. "I…" she stuttered, staring back at Emily, unable to draw her eyes away. "I…you…just…uh…" she wanted to flee, to go anywhere but where she was currently seated. But at the same time, there was nowhere else she'd rather be. As Emily continued to examine every tiny flicker of emotion in the blonde's eyes with great earnestness, something shifted. The tempest deluged Naomi's eyes and tears began streaking down her face. They pooled around Emily's thumbs until she swept them away tenderly. The blonde's hands tightened their hold and her brow furrowed as she noticed the accumulation of water in the redhead's own eyes.

"Why are you crying?" she asked.

Emily closed her eyes and took a breath before answering. "You." was all she replied.

"What?" Naomi whispered.

The redhead opened her eyes and elaborated, her voice low "I've never seen you like this. Just…completely exposed. No walls. It's just you…and it's so fucking beautiful…"

Naomi averted her eyes when she heard the forthright assessment of her crying. "Don't lie."

Her chin was lifted and she was forced to meet the redhead's gaze again. Emily's eyes were blazing.

"Why would I lie? After all this time, why would I lie to you? Every single word I've ever said to you is true. From your brilliant mind…" the redhead's hands glided down rest on Naomi's shoulders. "…to your gorgeous face…" they followed the length of the blonde's arms, "…to your enticing body…" she grabbed Naomi's arms and pulled them forward to tighten them around her own waist, resulting in there being absolutely no distance between their upper bodies. Emily's lips were hovering just out of reach of the blonde's mouth when she finished her sentence. "To the way you create such beautiful and exquisite art…it's always devastating to watch…Not to mention that all I can do is stare at your crafty hands and wish that they paid that much attention to me."

Naomi took in a quivering breath. Emily's weight was the only thing stopping her legs from visibly quaking, but she could feel their weakness nevertheless. The redhead wasn't done with her paralysing words.

She tilted her head and leaned forward to rest her lips against the blonde's cheek. Naomi saw her pull back slightly before hearing her murmur "Let me kiss you…"

Naomi swore that a riot was started in her chest. She thought for sure that there were microscopic people in her heart burning and jostling the blood cells into flowing faster to reach the lower part of her body, where a light throbbing began to match the hard, nervous pumping of her heart.

She tried in vain to shake her head to project a negative response, but her neck stiffened in defiance. No movement was made.

A hand came to rest on the back of her neck once more, while Emily's other hand remained on one of Naomi's arms. She asked another question. "How long has it been since someone's been this close to you?"

The blonde swallowed and managed to choke out "Long time…"

"Since around that time with those guys?"

Naomi nodded.

The redhead stroked the nape of her neck to calm her down some. "You don't have to be scared anymore." she said in a low voice.

Naomi wondered briefly when ridiculously high Emily got replaced by provocative siren Emily. Then she realised that she didn't really care. Who the fuck would care, really, if they were being straddled by a demigoddess?

Emily lightly nudged the blonde's cheek with her nose to encourage a reaction. She tried again with her words, "Do you want to kiss me?"

The artist's hands resumed their earlier pattern on the small of Emily's back. She heard the redhead suck in a shallow breath.

A light, contented sigh escaped the redhead's mouth and Naomi began feeling bad for making her wait. Emily had the fucking patience of a saint. Who else would hold off this long to get some from an emotionally fucked up person?

Naomi steeled herself to take the very first leap she'd taken in nearly 3 years. She turned her head slightly to connect her lips to Emily's fleetingly before leaning back. It was hardly felt but the redhead had closed her eyes either way. Probably in surprise. She bit her bottom lip and smiled. Naomi inclined her head again to press her mouth more firmly onto Emily's. This time the redhead was able to reciprocate. She angled her head to allow their lips to fit more fully together. They moved together deliberately, getting used to the feeling of one other. Emily broke the kiss for a short moment, only to return and take Naomi's bottom lip into her mouth. She sucked leisurely, enjoying the relaxed pace of the building intimacy. Her teeth grazed the soft skin as she eventually separated their mouths.

They just stared at each other before Emily opened her mouth to speak. She was cut off by Naomi, who was tired of words and who determinedly latched her lips onto the side of the redhead's neck. Emily arched her neck in a quick fire response and her hands moved up to trifle with the long blonde locks cascading down Naomi's shoulders.

Naomi felt and heard a low hum emerge from deep in Emily's throat. She moved her head lower to run her teeth lightly over the redhead's collarbone. Another low moan reverberated in the other girl's throat, but this time it made its way out from her mouth. The sensual sound tweaked Naomi's eardrums pleasantly and she felt it run across her spine. It caused an upsurge in the riot of her heart and it transitioned into an all out war. Her hand rose to tilt Emily's head more fully and she located her pulse point. She sucked with more fervour as it felt like a string of bullets was ricocheting off her spine.

The hand that wasn't supporting the smaller girl's neck finally moved downward from its place on the redhead's waist. First she ran her fingertips airily up and down Emily's thigh before adding more pressure with every movement. Emily was breathing hard and it only grew more ragged as the blonde's hand moved to stroke her heat through her jeans.

Naomi was fucking lost and she had no idea what the fuck she was doing. Thank the unseen force that compelled Emily to grip the wrist of the wandering hand between her legs. The blonde detached her lips from skin and heard the redhead release a breathy "Fuck."

They let their breathing slow before Emily made to move away from Naomi and return to her seat a few feet away from the blonde.

She let out one last sigh before looking at Naomi and smirking, "I asked if you wanted to kiss me, not if you wanted to ravish me. Clearly you were thinking of a lot more than I thought you were…"

"Well…" Naomi tried, her jaw clenched as she thought of a comeback. She had none.

"Oh?" Emily leaned forward, still grinning, "Have I rendered the almighty Naomi speechless?"

Naomi rolled her eyes and replied, "Shut up."

"I have!"

The blonde crossed her arms over her chest and looked to the side. Her head shot back to Emily as the redhead opened the exit to the compartment, "Just in case you forgot…" she started as she took the first step out, "You were responsible for most of what just happened." she laughed and was out the door. Naomi got up quickly to follow her out before the door was blown shut.

Emily was running up the steps two at a time as she called out playfully, "I was simply goading you, sucker!"

The blonde followed her up the stairs and simply replied "Yeah."

* * *

**_DS_, Ah it warms my heart to know you separate some time in your life to read my story thoroughly and thank you for your compliments and for your review!**

**_Vangoghurrl_, Well Naomi is a little bit dense so...Hopefully this cheered you up some lol and thanks again for reviewing :-)  
**

**_HyperFitched_, Resistance is wearing thinnn. Clearly. and you know what? I was wondering if she spent that twenty as well while I was writing it. I guess we'll both find out sooner or later. And I guess it's safe to say that the blonde was burnt to a crisp in this chapter. Shit fuck to any painting/drawing/photograph/etc that's ever gotten ruined and/or lost. It's SO frustrating. Sorry about your photo too. Thanks for the good vibes and your review! **

**_limbo maria_, Haha, like I've said she obviously didn't do a very good job of resisting here ;) thanks for the review and compassion towards my art gettin' ruined.**

**_CrashKill_, Thank you! I hope this chapter was up to par with all the others!**

**_starsdieout_, Hahahaha Emily seems to have a huge fan club for this story. and thanks, I do strive for it to be as vivid as possible so it's reassuring that you feel that way!**

**_lazyboo_, Haha! For some reason I was under the impression that no one was really paying attention to the definitions at the end of each chapter, so it's good that it's helping someone out at least. and lol I really wouldn't be bored reading about past graffiti. thanks for reviewing :)**

**_EmZ2009_, Glad I could help you pass the time, even more glad that you enjoyed reading my story to pass time. Thank you!**

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, I'm not sure how she resisted for so long either. What a stubborn twat! lol not so much anymore though :D Thanks!**

**_RUlov3r_, Thanks for your kind words and dropping a review!**

**Thanks to those of you who alerted anythang/favoured anythang...thang.**

**Peace.**


	15. Chapter 15

**So it seems like the memories are becoming huge monsters and the present time parts are getting shorter. I don't know if this is bad. Oh and there's nothing wrong with Toronto, it was just the first place that popped into my head for...what is down this page.  
**

* * *

_She was swaying to the faint beat reverberating through the house. A cup was in her hand and it was tipped slightly as she moved and the liquid leaked over her fingers. She took a sip and continued dancing. _

_The house was small - probably not a very good place to have a house party but Will turned it into one either way. It was his birthday, after all. Plus it seemed like no one gave a shit where they were partying as long as there were drugs and alcohol involved. Simple. Will had said that he invited about two dozen people to have a relatively small party, but of course it escalated until there were way more than the little home could handle. The place that she was dancing in was the kitchen. Who the fuck dances in a kitchen? Whatever. _

_So she continued swinging her hips side to side, matching every second of the beat like a pendulum weaving its way through every moment in time, luxuriating in the lazy rhythm she fell into. _

_Her blissful state of ignorance was eventually interrupted by the sudden and fleeting thought of weed. It left her mind only to come back seconds later and make her get that craving for it that she always got when she was drunk. This led her to making her way towards the sliding door located at the other side of the kitchen to get to the back balcony. She exited to find about fifteen people huddled around a small table, freezing their asses off outside. She scanned the seating arrangements and saw that there was one tiny sliver of space left on a bench. Making her way into the tight space, she bumped into knees, knocked the table holding all the drinks slightly then finally plopped down in the last space. Everyone nodded their heads towards her in recognition. Will was directly across from her and he smiled widely and stretched his arm over the table to reach her. She did the same and they shook hands. They knocked over a cup and a few people groaned. Some cheered. Someone unnecessarily shouted "Oh my God! That's like the millionth one already!" and they all laughed anyway. No one bothered cleaning it up. _

_Naomi remembered what she came outside for. She pulled her pack of cigarettes out from her pocket and took a look inside. There were no blunts lined up among the riggs in the packet. Huffing loudly, she looked around until she spotted a spliff sitting on the edge of an ashtray. She didn't give a shit who it belonged to. Whoever left it there was dumb. She grabbed it and lit up. She was three tokes in when another person emerged from the inside of the house. Will got the blonde's attention and gestured towards the girl with his eyes. Naomi got the drift and put the joint out then slyly put it back in its previous place. Will looked at her, his mouth crumpled awkwardly while he tried to hold his laughter in._

"_Shut up, I'm desperate." she whispered. _

"_I know, I can see that." Will replied while he grabbed a cup to take a drink._

_The girl left and the joint was taken once again, she was halfway through it when the girl it belonged to came out of the house again. Naomi nudged the guy beside her._

"_Yeah, lovely?"_

_She offered the joint to him and he took it happily._

_The blonde watched in anticipation as the girl saw the guy with the blunt in his hand._

"_Cook!" She screeched, "You went and stole my fucking joint!" _

"_Uuuhh…" he drew out and looked towards Naomi in confusion, then back at the girl, "No I didn't?"_

_The girl shrugged then took a seat on someone's lap. Naomi hadn't been paying attention to exactly who was around but when she watched the girl lower herself onto the lap of the other person, the blonde's eyes almost flew out of their sockets. It was Emily. Lovely, lovely Emily._

_Naomi's drunkenness did not allow her to look away, so she ended up staring even when the redhead caught her surprised gaze. Their eyes remained connected until the girl on Emily's lap began kissing the redhead's neck and she was forced to look away from the blonde. Naomi's gaze burned through the back of the girl's head. Naomi thought she needed a name. Slutface. Her name was Slutface._

_Naomi stood up abruptly when she couldn't take having to watch what was going on. The big green-eyed monster stomped over to the patio door and retreated back into the warmth of the house. She grabbed the bottle of vodka from the table and found some stairs. Her legs felt like thin little strings as she tried to stay upright while going down the flight of stairs. A loud laugh pushed itself out of her mouth as she stumbled down the last four steps, tripping on the very last one and falling face first onto the basement floor. _

"_Oooow…" she said and got up. There were a ton of people in the basement, all bustling about and chatting each other up. She liked it. Slipping into the crowd; she became like a ghost. Known to no one, able to watch every action of every person. The noise around her increased as more people made their appearance on the bottom floor of the house. She perched herself on a counter to watch everyone and drink the vodka she'd stolen._

_Her silent enjoyment was wrecked suddenly, when Slutface appeared beside her._

"_Hey!"_

_Naomi didn't answer._

"_I'm Jas-"_

_Naomi ears stopped functioning. She really did not care what this girl's name was…and Naomi much preferred Slutface._

"_I'm from Toronto."_

"_Great." The blonde said unenthusiastically and sipped from her bottle._

"_Can you…watch this mickey for me? I'll be back to finish it in a second." Slutface smiled._

"_Whatever." Naomi finally looked at the girl._

"_Great! Thanks!" Slutface walked away to somewhere beyond. Probably back to her crack den. _

_Five minutes passed and a brunette now made herself known next to Naomi._

"_Hi…" she said, unsure._

"_Hey." Naomi replied flatly._

"_Is this yours?" the brown-haired girl asked, gesturing to the mickey of vodka left behind by Slutface._

"_Nope."_

"_Sweet." The girl chugged what was left, then walked away._

_Slutface returned minutes later and lifted the mickey up in confusion. Naomi watched and noticed a smile creep up on Slutface's…face._

"_Oh my God!" she exclaimed, "I finished the mickey!"_

_Naomi wanted to fall off the counter and die laughing. Instead, she held it back and feigned great enthusiasm "Oh, you sure did!"_

_The girl giggled dumbly and walked away, still holding the small glass bottle up to her face._

_Naomi was about to hop off the counter when a third person came to greet her. She swore she was going to fucking rip her hair out if another person talked to her again. Turning slowly, trying to look menacing, her eyes fell upon Emily._

_The redhead grinned, "So we meet again, Naomi." she leaned her elbow on the counter. Naomi scooted a few inches to the opposite direction. "Hi."_

"_Funny seeing you around yet another party…Wasn't it only last week that I caught you sitting by your lonesome in a park? And now you're here, sitting by yourself…again. Do you make an effort to be alone?"_

_Naomi's head started to ache with all of the questions being forced through her receptors. She watched the redhead turn so her back was facing the counter. The muscles in her arms strained against skin for a second before she pushed herself up onto the counter so that one of her legs was flush against the blonde's._

"_Now, see what I think…" she continued, "I think that when I arrive, you make yourself look so adorably lost and lonely that I just have to come over and talk to you…"_

_Naomi looked directly at her and replied "You make your pick-up lines way too long."_

_Emily released a booming laugh. A laugh that Naomi secretly admired because it was so carefree and she wished she could react like that around other people. She only ever genuinely laughed with Will, when it was just the two of them._

_Emily was still smiling when she asked, "What would you prefer then?"_

_Naomi made a pensive face and she lifted her hand to her chin to make it look like she was reflecting deeply, "Surprise me."_

_The redhead narrowed her eyes before starting, "Your legs must be tired because you've been running through my mind all night."_

_Naomi shook her head and held back a smile._

"_Are you a parking ticket? 'Cause you've got fine written all over you." Emily raised her eyebrow and tried to look serious._

_The blonde snorted._

"_Didn't I see you on the cover of vogue?"_

"_Bad one to use for someone with a name like mine."_

"_Apart from being sexy, what do you do for a living?"_

"_You mean apart from attending the same school as you?"_

"_What does it feel like to be the most beautiful girl in this room?"_

_Naomi looked away and pretended to ignore Emily._

"_Damn girl, you've got more curves than a race track."_

_Naomi continued looking around._

"_If I followed you home, would you keep me?"_

"_Woooow."_

"_Is there an airport nearby or is that just my heart taking off?"_

_Naomi made to hop off the counter, but she was stopped when the redhead grabbed her arm._

"_Did it hurt?"_

_Naomi looked away and laughed before saying, "Oh God, no!" in disbelief._

_Emily continued anyway, "When you fell from heaven?" The redhead couldn't hold back a playful smile any longer._

_They laughed together before Emily stopped abruptly and looked Naomi in the eye._

"_Now you have to accept a dance invitation from me."_

"_I don't have to do anything." the blonde smirked._

"_But I think you do because you see…I think you find me charming."_

"_As if, why would I find a fucking weird, tiny elf charming?"_

"_Hey, that's not fair!"_

_Naomi slipped away and back up the stairs. Emily trailed her._

"_Where are you going?"_

_The blonde smiled and continued on her way._

_They were in the kitchen again and Naomi grabbed Emily's hand and led her down the hallway, stepping over some passed out people. They turned into a room where the speakers were pumping and Naomi turned the volume up._

_The blonde brought them back to the kitchen where more people were now gathered since they'd noticed the music had gotten louder._

_Naomi put her foot up on a chair and stepped onto the table. She motion for Emily to follow her up. The redhead complied right away._

_More people followed their example and soon the legs of the table were trembling with the energy of all the people on top of it._

_They danced for a long while, enjoying the feeling of being connected through the beat. They moved ever closer to each other. Naomi, who was being cautious of their proximity thought, fuck it, and moved completely into Emily's personal space. The redhead grinned, "Why you all up in my grill?" she asked facetiously._

_Naomi shook her head in amusement at the use of that sentence then laughed unnaturally loud to distract Emily from the fact that she was trying to get her hands around the redhead's waist. Without missing a beat, Emily leaned in and said "You should have told me that you just wanted me a bit closer."_

_Naomi rolled her eyes but didn't move away._

_Emily moved forward again and Naomi braced herself for another searing comment._

"_I really have to go to the bathroom." Emily ripped herself from Naomi's grasp and pushed some people, almost making them fall off the table, much to their dismay. The blonde bobbed her head awkwardly for a bit before she felt too stupid by herself and stopped moving. She heard the back door slide open and looked to see Will enter the room while holding a massive cake._

"_Willyyyy!" she screamed and pumped her fists into the air._

"_Naaaaai!" he replied, almost dropping the cake while trying to reciprocate the hand gestures._

_The table looked like it was going to break as people tried getting off of it. Most of them failed in doing so without getting hurt. Many tried jumping off and just fell to the floor, laughing, while they got stepped on. Others managed to step off then stumble into the wall._

"_Who wants some fucking cake?" Will yelled as loudly as he could. Cheers erupted all around the first floor of the house. A few faraway ones were heard from the basement and outside. Naomi knew they probably didn't even know what the fuck they were cheering for._

_Will didn't bother getting a knife. He ripped the box opened and just grabbed a handful and started stuffing it into his mouth. Everyone followed. Naomi pushed through the throng of people and scooped up two handfuls. One for herself and one for Emily, of course. She took a bite of her own and walked out of the kitchen and down the hall to stand in front of the bathroom door. The guy named Cook ran passed her laughing, with cake all over his face and his mouth wide opened with the masticated food on display. She chuckled at the sight. Slutface followed soon after him and Naomi looked on with a repulsed expression as she threw herself at Cook. Emily finally emerged from the bathroom and beamed at Naomi when she spotted her. The redhead followed Naomi's gaze and mirrored the blonde's expression._

_Naomi had to ask, "Why did you let her kiss you?" she finally looked at Emily curiously as she munched on the sweet snack in her hand, not caring that her hand was now covered in icing._

"_You mean outside?" _

"_Yeah…"_

"_I didn't even realise she was doing it. It didn't feel very nice and I was a bit distracted by our staring contest…until she did some weird thing behind my neck that totally grossed me out…I kicked her off my lap right when you left."_

"_Hmmm." Naomi hummed, her mouth full. She looked down at her other hand and realised she forgot to give the cake to Emily._

"_Oh! Here." She held the cake out._

"_Wow, that looks really appetising…all over your hand like that. Yum."_

_Naomi's eyebrows scrunched together as she stared at the cake, her blurred judgement not able to discern why someone wouldn't want to eat it._

_Emily must have noticed the zoned out expression on Naomi's face seeing as she grabbed the blonde's hand and said, "Okay, look we'll just…" she turned Naomi's hand over to drop the cake onto the floor, "Put this away… and…" Naomi now stared at the mess left behind. "..clean you up." Emily pulled her into the bathroom and sat her down on the edge of the bathtub. The redhead kneeled down and grabbed a tissue from the box on the sink and began wiping the palm of Naomi's hand._

_The blonde had just eaten the last bite of her cake when that hand was grabbed by Emily to be cleaned. Naomi peered up at Emily, her blue eyes concentrating intently on Emily's own brown ones. The redhead smiled softly and kissed Naomi's palm, just below her thumb. Emily narrowed her eyes to gauge the blonde's reaction and continued spreading delicate kisses over the hand. _

_Emily's eyes fluttered opened and targeted the pair in front of her once again. She was trying to convey how determined she was. Naomi knew it. From the moment she'd met the girl, she had a feeling that she was going to be seeing her a lot more. It was going to be a challenge trying to shake her off. This girl was the most persistent creature she had ever encountered and it captivated the blonde more than she cared to admit._

_The intimate atmosphere was broken by someone pounding on the door._

"_I have to fucking piss!" was shouted through the thin wood._

_Emily replaced her mouth with the tissue and quickly finished cleaning Naomi's hand._

_They stood together and walked out of the bathroom, then towards the front door. While they exited, Naomi finally broke the silence, "That was really good cake."_

_Emily slapped her own forehead and laughed lightly._

"_What am I going to do with you?"_

**ooo**

"That one looks sort of like a duck to me."

"It looks like a big pile of shit."

They found themselves lying on their backs in the middle of a field with nothing better to do than watch the clouds go by. Even though the dying grass was rough and uncomfortable, neither one did mind.

"You're so good at this. You have a great imagination…" Emily tried to emulate Naomi's voice, "Uh that one looks like a pile of shit, that one looks like a dead rabbit, that one looks like a vagina…"

"Oh shut up, I did not say that last one."

"I bet you were thinking it."

"And why is that?"

"Because you always think about that."

"That's so not true."

"'Fess up, you're a pervert."

"Okay, you shouldn't even talk…you're like the top offender in that category."

"You're not far behind."

"How would you know that?"

Emily rolled onto her stomach and looked at Naomi. "'Cause I'm in here." she poked the blonde in the middle of the forehead.

Naomi sat up and looked at Emily from the corner of her eye. The girl was now fiddling with some grass in front of her face.

While she was distracted, Naomi ripped a handful of the dead plant from the ground and furtively lifted her hand. She called the redhead's name. When Emily looked up, the blonde showered her face with the dry little blades then she got up and bolted towards the other side of the field.

"You fucking dick!" she heard in the distance as she ran into an area taken over by trees. She went around so Emily wouldn't see where she was going. The foliage was pretty sparse, but she managed to hide by standing close to one of the thicker tree trunks. She kept her breathing as steady as possible and didn't move a muscle. The sound of the grass crumpling under slow, cautious steps was heard a few feet to her left. Her body pressed itself tighter against the bark. Teeth dug into her bottom lip and she began counting down from ten.

When she reached one, she jumped out from behind the tree. No one was there. Looking towards where the footsteps were coming from before, she didn't notice the redhead creeping up on her.

She screamed as she was tackled to the floor. Emily was holding her down but she managed to grab hold of a tiny twig and threw it lightly at Emily's face, not hard enough to really hurt. But it poked the redhead in the eye.

"Shit, I'm sorry." Naomi panicked as her hands hovered over Emily's faced worriedly, too scared to actually touch it. The redhead moved herself off of Naomi and sat with her legs crossed. She rubbed her eye, only making it more irritated.

"Stop doing that…"

Naomi removed Emily's hand from her eye and watched it blink rapidly in distress.

"I'm really sorry…" Naomi said again, still holding the redhead's hand.

When Emily's eyelid finally stopped twitching, she smiled comfortingly.

"It's okay, Nai. It wasn't that bad."

"But…"

"You're cute."

Naomi shot her a baffled look.

"You're freaking out over nothing." Emily lifted her hand to tuck a lock of hair behind the blonde's ear.

"But now you owe me."

"Huh?"

"You have to kiss it better."

Naomi's expression went from perplexed to playfully incredulous. She raised an eyebrow and answered, "Always looking for a chance to get to do something I wouldn't usually do."

Emily's smile widened, "I'm waiting…"

The blonde feigned annoyance and leaned forward. She stopped just short of Emily's face and realised something.

"Wait a minute.." she pulled back, "There isn't even anything bothering it anymore."

The redhead wagged her finger at Naomi and made a noise that signified she did not agree.

Naomi pretended to brace herself for the task before finally leaning forward for the second time. She pressed a kiss to Emily's temple, lingering longer than she should have to breathe in Emily's scent, indulging in the earthly aroma mingling with her shampoo.

"Enjoying yourself?"

"Mmmh…" was Naomi's response.

The blonde finally sat back and copied Emily's cross legged position. The trees around them created a dome, allowing them to feel isolated from other people in the park.

The redhead squinted her eyes, thinking of something to say.

"When's the last time you painted something? Like on a canvas?"

"Maybe around…a year ago. Why?"

"Just wanted to know."

"Okaaay."

Naomi had a theory about what Emily was trying to do, so she shot a question back.

"Cook told me that you were afraid of spiders. Is that true?"

Emily frowned, "Yeah…"

"Why?"

"When Katie and I were really young, my mum shoved us in a bath tub together to bathe. I noticed Katie giggling at something over the top of my head and when I looked up there was one dangling right over my face."

Naomi tried to hide her smile.

"And before I could move, Katie ran her hand through the web on purpose to break it and the spider fell directly onto my face." Emily's face flushed in embarrassment and the blonde spoke to divert the attention from that story onto herself.

"I can't sleep if the window's open, I always think someone is going to climb in even though my apartment is on the highest floor."

"If my mum serves my family a meal and the different food on my plate is touching, I can't eat it."

"Sometimes I count the amount of letters in a word and I get inexplicably annoyed when it ends up being an odd number."

"I skipped to the back page of the last Harry Potter book to see if he died before I even started properly reading it."

"I can't continue using a paintbrush if I've noticed that any of the bristles on the ends are sticking out."

"I still have the portrait you drew of me. I framed it and it's hanging in my room. Katie always says that she thought she'd be the one to have a portrait of herself hanging. Then she always tells me to take it down because it takes the attention away from her side of the room. But I can tell she's not really serious. She liked it too…" Emily trailed off.

"I still have that twenty you gave to me."

"What? You mean.."

"The one with the heart on it." Naomi finished for her. She dug into her pocket for her bus pass and pulled it out.

"I still have the same plastic cover I had two years ago. I just kept it in there…"

She slid the public transportation tickets out and the money fell onto the grass. It was a bit more crinkled than when Emily last saw it.

"Wow." the redhead said and reached for the bill. The heart was a little faded, probably from the bill being constantly slid in and out of the plastic. She smiled as that meant the blonde has taken it out either to look at it or anything else.

"It's so weird to think of back then…"

"Yeah…"

"I remember thinking you were so cool. All mysterious with your crew thing going on…"

Naomi laughed. Emily continued.

"And I knew Freddie was friends with you so I always used to bug him and ask questions about you… he never told me anything, but he did get me to go to some of the same parties."

The blonde's head shot up, "So that's how you got into most of the parties I was at!"

Emily blushed slightly again, "Yeah…like that one where I had to clean the cake off from all over you 'cause you were eating it like your mouth couldn't function properly…or your hands…and every other part of your body." she finished with a chuckle.

Naomi looked down as she reminisced, "Ah, and then we walked back to my house and we had to sleep in the basement 'cause I didn't want to wake my mum."

"And when I was trying to fall asleep in a sleeping bag on the floor, you jumped on me from the top of a couch and started screeching 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' in my ear…yeah I remember."

A smile rested on the blonde's face for a long moment as she replayed the memory. One of Emily's hands slipped into her own and she squeezed it reassuringly.

An idea ran through the blonde's mind. Excitement trickled down her spine and she blurted it out before she could stop herself, "Do you want to see my first freight?"

"What's that?"

"The first train I painted…"

"You painted a train?"

"Yeah…The crew did graffiti, mostly."

* * *

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, I know the time line seems to veer everywhere lol, but Katie and Emily knew Cook before Naomi did. Cook knew Freddie who knew Naomi, which is how they're connected in the memories and how they always seem to end up in the same place. I know it's really convoluted, but it should all eventually be cleared up. Thanks for reviewin' always :)**

**_Vangoghgurrl_, Haaaa, when I was writing that sentence and my brain immediately inserted demigoddess I was like YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Thanks for your review.**

**_HyperFitched_, I hated writing the scene with those guys. My first plan for it was even worse - I thought of making her get mugged too so the guys would have taken the twenty with the heart on it. But I thought that didn't fit and it was already majorly depressing. Big thanks for the compliments and your review. My brain is melting from lack of sleep right now, so I'm sorry that I can't properly reply to the rest of it. But seriously, thanks for always leaving in-depth reviews.**

**_MegDemz_, Hey, thanks for the review. lol Naomi's still making her way back slowly but surely, she'll get here eventually.**

**_Naoemms_, Aw thank you! Writing that one future scene is daunting. There's so much emotion that I feel I have to fit in. It's gonna be a challenge. but hopefully you'll like it anyway when it arrives.**

**_lazyboo_, I'd like to hear your theory on exactly what history you think they have. It's interesting, so if you want, fire away. I'm really curious :) Thanks for your review!**

**_esdiferente_, You don't have to apologise, but I'm infinitely glad that you took the time to leave a review, so thanks! Christ, sometimes it take hours of just sitting and staring at a blank page to come up with an idea on how to link the past and the present. It's so frustrating sometimes! Another thanks to your lovely compliments.**

**Peeeaaace!**


	16. Chapter 16

**HI. This is a huge fucking chapter whuuutttttt. I got a job...at a grocery store. lol how do you like that? Naomi gets fired and I get hired. Anyway so I noticed this graffiti on the front of the store when I was walking in and it was great cause it was in memory of the writers that passed on because of the train. **

**Also, there's this homeless man that comes in the store and I fucking love him. He jokes around with all the employees.**

**I love homeless people. I don't care if that's weird. They need love too.  
**

* * *

_"Okay let's just leave the bikes here." Will suggested as their legs pumped the pedals unrelentingly. The road had an inclination and it was getting more and more difficult to continue pedalling uphill._

_"All right." Naomi pressed her handbrake and the tires on her bike skid along the gravel for a few feet before stopping._

_It was late afternoon and they'd been riding for hours on roads that led to fuck knows where to get to a freight yard._

_She climbed off the bike and walked it to the side of the road. The ditch was pretty deep, it might be difficult to get their bikes out of it if they had to make a quick getaway._

_"Come on…Don't just throw it down. You have to set it up so that if we need to get the hell out it's ready to go."_

_"How is that possible if there is every kind of long, tangled weed in there? There's no way the bike can just roll out of there."_

_"Okay, look."_

_Will let the bike roll down the ditch then stepped in carefully after it. He pulled it up and leant it on the hill so that the front tired was facing the road._

_"No one pays enough attention to notice that a tire is half sticking out of the ground and if they do, they're still not likely to get out of their cars just to check a piece of crap out." He stepped up the small hill, back onto the same level as Naomi. They looked down at the bike and he continued explaining, "So if we need to run, you just grab the front wheel and pull the bike out. Hop on, then coast. You get it? You just need to make sure that while you're lifting the bike it doesn't get caught in the tall grass, but it's pretty easy if you take care to place it over every plant that might cause a problem…"_

_"Right…" she grabbed the bike and pushed it to teeter over the edge. It fell over the wrong way and the handlebars got wedged in between some thick weeds._

_"Shit…"_

_"Christ, do you have to fuck up everything?" Will laughed and sunk into the ditch again. Naomi followed suit._

_Will swore and lifted his foot out of where it was planted._

_"What is it?" concern laced Naomi's tone._

_"I think I just stepped into a patch of poison ivy."_

_"Shit."_

_"Whatever, we have some time before it progresses, let's get this done."_

_Naomi bent down near the front tire and began trying to rip the green tresses off the handle._

_They finally freed the bike and Will sent Naomi back up to the road while he placed the two-wheeler properly._

_"'Kay let's jet." he said when he was done._

_Together, they lumbered up the rest of the road in search of the yard. It didn't taken them long to find it, but most of the outer city's sunlight was quickly swept away by the gloomy presence of dusk._

_When they reached the yard, they veered off the road and walked around to reach the back part of the fence,_

_"Nai, keep watch, yeah?"_

_"Yeah."_

_Naomi turned around and began studying her surroundings for any movement. She pivoted and also took time to look at the inside of the yard, where there could be security doing their rounds. In her peripheral vision she saw Will pull some wire cutters from a bag. He began cutting through the metal._

_A hole that was only just able to let them through was created._

_They crouched through it and made the least noise possible. Two pairs of feet padded cautiously across the ground to the number of trains that were lined up on several different tracks._

_Will halted his stride and turned towards Naomi, "Right so…pick one."_

_She glanced at the huge, solid boxes loaded with cargo. They all looked the same to her, so she pointed at a random one._

_Will stepped closer to the one she was gesturing to. "Nope. Bad choice."_

_"Why?"_

_"See, look." He walked around to the other end of it where the other side looked like the part that goes on the very front or back of the train._

_"That's the engine. You never bomb the engines. The company logos are on the engines and you don't want to paint over those. It would bring more attention than necessary and the workers need to see those logos anyway…"_

_Naomi followed him as he moved to another freight beside the engine. He walked down an aisle formed between two cars on two separate tracks. "And see the numbers here on the cargo? Don't paint over these either. These let the workers know what's being transported and where the train is headed. If you go painting over these like a dumb toy, you can guarantee that security is going to be upped around the yard. Not to mention it's going to bring even more heat to the yard than bombing the engine."_

_Her legs rushed to catch up with Will when she noticed he'd continued down the aisle. They walked on until they found one that didn't have any paint on it._

_"So many people are bombing the god damn freights…" he started as he swung the big pack off of his back. Naomi looked at the other trains. Most of the paint looked like it was done quickly. "Like if you're going to sneak into a lay-up or yard, might as well take the time to actually leave something that took effort behind. These trains are here overnight, sometimes even longer. There are pussies in the game now." His hands returned from the inside of the bag to reveal a six pack of beer._

_"So that's why your bag is always significantly larger than mine, you carry fucking beer around with you?" she smirked, amused._

_"Sure. It's fun." he grinned and ripped one from the packaging before handing it to her._

_"You're so trashy." she said as she smiled and plucked the steel at on the top of the can between her thumb and index. "Soon you'll be living in a trailer park and sitting in a lawn chair drinking malt while perving on the twelve year old girls wandering by." she pulled it back, making the can hiss. It was like music to her ears._

_Will grabbed a can and smirked, "As long as I'm happy."_

_Naomi sat down a bit away from the spot they were going to paint and watched Will as he pulled the spray paint respirator from his bag. He chugged the beer in his hand and placed the empty can on the floor before lifting the mask and pulling the elastic band to fit in onto his head. He adjusted the mask to sit comfortably on his mouth and nose._

_"Okaaaay. Ready?"_

_Naomi nodded and sipped the beer._

_Will turned the back pack over to let the spray cans fall out of the bag slightly. They both froze, Will's hands hovering over the can as they listened intently. After a few moments of no noise, Will grabbed the can and began his piece._

_Naomi loved to watch the calculating look in his eye change from time to time as he considered what to do next. The slight tilt of his head, she learned, meant that he was trying to figure out how to successfully complete a complicated part of the piece. When he moved back slightly and tilted his head even more it either meant that he royally fucked it up or that he just needed more time to figure it out. She picked up that he loved using complementary colours. His favourite pair, the ones he used most often, were yellow and violet. In her head, she made fun of the way he awkwardly shifted his hips when he painted a lower section of the piece._

_She was snapped out of her observation when she heard a shriek and some laughter that didn't come from them. It didn't sound too far away. Will continued painting._

_"Will?" she asked._

_He placed the can gently in the bag then looked at her. "Yeah, I heard it. Help me clean this up before we check it out."_

_"But the piece…"_

_He looked at it and his expression was regretful. "We might have to hightail it out of here if I'm right about that annoying disturbance."_

_She sighed "Okay."_

_She bent down and picked up the empty beer cans and placed them quietly in Will's pack. Will did the same with the paint. He even took the little pieces of ripped cardboard that were holding the beer can he'd ripped form the package._

_"Never leave the place dirty…" he started, zipping up his bag. "That's disrespectful to the workers. Sometimes they're nice enough not to bother us when they see us sneaking in. Which isn't really sneaking if they see you, but anyway…Yeah, a lot are nice if you clean up after yourself. And you know if they're jumping on and off the freights and doing their jobs, they don't really need the hazard of slipping on wet cans of paint."_

_She nodded in understanding at the tips Will just shared before piping in "And it's bad for the environment."_

_Will laughed at her response and agreed._

_They looked over their spot once more before making their way towards the racket being caused a few cars down on another track._

_"Hey, I just noticed…we were painting on a dead track. Our piece isn't even leaving the city." he shook his head and smiled at the fact that all this effort would go to waste. "It says on the sign there." he pointed._

_She looked at it and sighed. Her body perked up a moment later, "Hey that means we can come back and finish it. I can do my part."_

_Will smiled at her excitement, "You sure can. But we'll have to wait a while if anything goes down now."_

_When they reached the aisle with the sounds emanating from it, they peeked around the corner, not making themselves known just yet._

_They saw a group of five kids gathered around a spot being obnoxiously boisterous. There was garbage from the food and alcohol they were consuming scattered about the ground around them, getting blown away. Their empty paint cans were even discarded a few feet away from the group._

_Naomi could see Will grinding his jaw in frustration. "Will. Calm."_

_"Sorry, they just really fucking piss me off. It's because of them that the freight scene is on its way to dying. Fucking hell." he breathed and continued watching. One of the girls in the group drunkenly fell against one of the freights and laughed loudly. A guy told her to shut the fuck up because she had been making fun of his piece. The guy continued trying to do whatever it was and apparently he kept fucking it up. He threw the can down and stepped on it in frustration. It exploded and made even more of a mess on the tracks and train._

_"Fuck's sake." Will muttered and walked out from his hiding place. "Hey!" he called. The group turned towards him and stared him down. Their stances became defensive. "What?" one of them called rudely._

_Will walked forward, "You should have a little more respect for the places you're painting. Start by cleaning this fucking mess up."_

_The drunk girl sucked her teeth and swerved her head with attitude. "We ain't gotta listen to you."_

_Will smiled and shook his head in exasperation. "How would you like it if this place was completely closed off or so full of security that you couldn't even get five feet from the fence without being poked by a fucking taser gun?"_

_A guy with unbelievably low pants waddled forward towards Will, "We would just find another spot. It isn't that hard, bro." he advanced threateningly. Will walked around him, ignoring the minor threat. He strode right up to their fresh paint and rubbed it with his hand. "Holy fuck..", he looked at his hand "This is the cheapest fucking paint you could ever disgrace a train car with." It was wiped into his jeans. Pivoting, he began to lecture them, "I bet you've been painting for even less than a month. Judging by the shitty work of this. Stick to paper for now, kid. Or to tagging already mucked up walls that other toys like you think they're hard for writing on. And pull up your fucking pants, your dick doesn't hang that low."_

_The boy looked around at his friends for encouragement before facing Will again, "You're a fucking faggot. You're talking about my pants? Check yours, man. They're so tight I bet you actually have a pussy hidden under them jeans." he laughed at his own joke and the others followed suit._

_Will looked bored, "Mmh, sexist jokes coming from a wannabe gangster. Very creative. Stop trying so hard, I have friends that would be ashamed that you consider yourself in the same scene as them."_

_The kid apparently had no comebacks for that, so he surged forward and almost had his face pressed against Will. He breathed out, maybe to seem like a very scary bull, but who knows? Will made a choking sound. "Oh man," he laughed, "That's fucking rank. Might wanna pick up a toothbrush."_

_This comment embarrassed the kid, so he must've felt compelled to do something about. He gave Will a hard shove. Will stumbled back slightly and when he righted himself, he held his hand to his heart, "Oh, I'm so sad that it's going down like this." he said, in a mockingly sincere voice. He returned the shove and the kid went flying into one of his mates and they fell to the floor together._

_Naomi thought it was kind of dumb that someone would try to push Will anyway. He was as tall as a fucking tree and built like a fucking bulldozer. She finally emerged from behind the freight, but no one noticed her. The four guys were busy trying to bring Will to the ground. She saw the one girl dig into her purse for something._

_A knife. The little toy pulled out a knife. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Naomi panicked and her legs hastily, but quietly carried her towards the girl. She reached her hand around the girl and grabbed hold of the appendage that was holding the weapon. The girl freaked out and started flailing around to get Naomi off. Naomi's back was smashed up against one of the freights. She pushed back and rammed the girl into the freight opposite them._

_The prisoner continued struggling against Naomi, but the blonde concentrated on their hands clasped together above them. She pushed against the girl's thumb in an attempt to force the dagger out of her hand. It worked, but only because the girl had tried to whip her hand in the wrong direction. The knife came tumbling through the air and missed Naomi's face by millimetres. She heard the blade hit the ground near her foot and kicked at the ground aimlessly to get it away and put distance between the girl and the weapon. The drunk's resistance was getting weaker and the blonde wondered why. Seconds later, the girl stopped moving completely and Naomi felt something fall onto the foot she had planted between the girl's legs to hold her against the train. She stepped back and released the girl to see what it was._

_There was vomit all over her foot. The girl slumped to the ground. Naomi looked at her and shrugged before turning her attention back to the others. She laughed when she saw Will dancing around while three of the four guys tried to bring him down. Every time they lunged he'd move at the last second. Her eyes sought out the missing boy and saw him peering around the opposite end of the freight. He looked panicked as he turned to yell, "Guys, there's a group of workers coming this way."_

_The noise of all the fighting had finally alerted the staff if the yard. "Ass." Naomi muttered, she looked around to locate the bags Will left behind. She grabbed them and went back to the scene. Will was still fooling around with one last guy. "Will!" she shouted. He stopped abruptly to look at her and was knocked down. The guy that shoved him finally ran off with the other three to escape._

_Footsteps from the workers could be heard getting closer as she helped Will up. She handed him a bag just as the workers came around the corner._

_"Fucking kids!" one of them said._

_Will grabbed her arm to force her in front of him and they ran one behind the other to the hole they'd made to get in. She launched her own bag over the fence and Will handed his own to her. That one was thrown over the fence as well whilst Will crawled out of the yard. "Come on!" he urged Naomi as he reached the other side. She dove onto her stomach for the exit and began wiggling herself through when something pulled on her foot. One worker had followed them and was trying to pull her back in. Will pulled his hood up before crouching down and trying to yank Naomi through by her underarms. Naomi grunted in pain as her body was being pulled in both directions. Her legs kicked to try and force the worker off. As one last hard kick was sent the worker's way to knock him over, Will pulled her through the aperture. However, her leg had been raised too high from the force of the blow and a jagged end of the metal fence was drilled into her inner thigh._

_"Fuck!" she shrieked and Will stopped pulling. She lowered the leg and he dragged her out roughly._

_"What happened?" he questioned, his gaze reflecting concern._

_She turned over onto her back and her eyes welled up from the pain of the gash. His eyes widened when he saw the wound and she heard him muttering incoherently._

_While she was trying to stem the bleeding uselessly with her hands she felt herself being lifted. She was thrown over Will's shoulder along with the bags and he raced down the dark road._

_"Will we have to stop the bleeding." she croaked._

_"I know!" he snapped and pushed himself to run faster. "I'm going as fast as I can!"_

_She wasn't sure how long it took to reach the bikes, but before she knew it, she was on the ground and Will was ripping off his sweater. Naomi noticed his shaky hands as she struggled to rip both sleeves off the piece of clothing. His breathing became laboured and his hands flittered into a frenzy. She'd never seen him panic like this, he had always been the composed one._

_"Will…Will…" she coaxed. He looked up._

_"There's a pocket knife in the smallest compartment of my bag."_

_Will flew towards the bag and located the tool. He successfully shredded the seams of the sleeves and tied them together. He moved towards Naomi and gently removed her hand from over the wound._

_"Sorry if this hurts." he said and pressed the material tightly to her thigh._

_She hissed and bit her lip as he tightened the material even more and wrapped it around her leg. It went around about four times before he had to tuck an end inside the bandage. He then grabbed the rest of the sweater and wrapped it a few more times around her leg. "Hold that here until we get back downtown. Then we'll take you to the hospital." She nodded to whatever he said._

_The stars shone above her and she studied them to distract herself. Will could be heard in the background pulling the bike back over the hill._

_She hardly noticed when she was made to sit on the handlebars of the bike while leaning her back on Will as he rode._

_The ride was passed with her saying random shit that didn't make sense. Sometimes her weight would sway without her own support and Will would have to stop to straighten her up._

_They arrived at the hospital in the early morning and she was bandaged up pretty quickly. Usually the wait would be hours but she figured they weren't allowed to leave patients bleeding to death in the waiting room._

_She refused the offer of pain meds and remained with a painful ache in her thigh while lying down in her hospital bed. Will was in her room pacing around._

_"Will, stop doing that."_

_"Hm? Oh, sorry." he took a seat beside her bed. He opened his mouth to speak but instead swore loudly. He propped his foot up onto the bed and pulled the leg of his jeans up._

_"Oh shit."_

_"Ooooooh fuuuck." Naomi replied. A rash had begun making its way up Will's leg._

_"I'd forgotten about that poison ivy…" he said._

_Naomi continued staring. "That's gonna get nasty."_

_"Yeah.."_

_"At least we're in a hospital now…you can get treatment." she said encouragingly._

_Will laughed._

**ooo**

"Well yeah…" Emily said. "I kind of put two and two together when I found that stuff on your kitchen table."

"Oh."

Emily shook her head, "I'm not as clueless as you may think, Nai."

Naomi looked down while Emily continued.

"I just didn't think you painted on fucking freight trains. How badass."

"I painted a lot more than just those…"

"Wait a second…" Emily looked excited, "Does that mean that some of the random tags I see around are yours?"

Naomi shrugged. "Could be. But I think by now a lot of them have been painted over."

The redhead jumped to her feet, "Well let's go then!"

The blonde stood but said "You're silly. We'd have to wait for nightfall."

"Is that because we have to trespass?"

"Precisely."

"Cool."

"Cool? Isn't this going to tarnish your like…good girl status?"

"Oh, shut up."

Naomi grinned and pat Emily on the head. "So where to now?"

"I don't know…"

"Well you've been leading us this entire time."

"You pick something."

"I think that we should head back to my place and pick some stuff up before we head to the freight yard."

**ooo**

"Beer?" Emily asked.

"Uh, yes." Naomi said as she put the pack of liquor in her bag "It's tradition."

"Right…" Emily said while packing the fruit she'd found in Naomi's fridge into a bag.

Naomi waited for Emily to finish before saying "We're gonna have to use those bixi bike things that are near the metro…I don't have a bike anymore."

"Why?"

"It was left behind somewhere…I'll let you know when we get there."

"Okay…"

They finished packing and made their way outside to find the rack of bicycles lined up. They paid for two and were on their way.

Naomi steered them straight through the downtown area to the winding roads that were far from the city's centre. She stopped them when they reached about the same place that she and Will had hid their bikes years ago.

"We have to hide the bikes here."

Emily stepped off her own and asked "Where?"

"In the ditch." Naomi replied, like it was the most obvious place to hide something. She rolled the bike down the hill like she'd done many times before and stepped into the sunken ground. "Come on, Em."

The redhead looked over the hill, unsure, before finally following in Naomi's footsteps and pushing the two wheeler down. She pushed it a little too roughly and it tumbled down to fall onto Naomi's bike.

"Thanks, trying to kill me so you can just leave me in this ditch?"

"Obviously." Emily grinned.

The blonde positioned the two bikes like Will had taught her.

She climbed back up the slope on all fours.

When Naomi was stood tall again, she requested that Emily turn around so she could reach a pocket located on the bag being carried on Emily's back. She pulled out a pair of sunglasses as the sun was setting and the glare was becoming a bit overwhelming.

Emily stepped ahead of her and they walked in silence. She looked up and became engrossed in the dazzling glow of Emily's hair against the setting sun's light. She removed her glasses to get a better look, even though the light was possibly burning straight through her retinas and rendering her blind. But she couldn't stop; it was so vivid and so lively and entirely brilliant. She always felt blind around Emily so in her mind it wouldn't have really made a difference if she couldn't see.

The wind dancing through Emily's hair gave Naomi the impression that there were a hundred little heartbeats nestled in every root of every strand. And those little heartbeats were ready to burst forth in the form of a thousand florid cardinals. She almost prepared herself for the rupture until the redhead turned to face her.

She smiled at Naomi and the blonde felt an entirely different level of intoxication. She could've sworn she saw the radiance of cardinals fly into the sun to disappear completely.

Emily walked the same pace as Naomi, but backwards and the blonde followed as if she was trailing a lifeline. The crimson hair now looked different; like red wine, when you held it up in a glass to catch the light. It always looked so beautiful that all you could do was drink it in to feel complete.

The blonde felt a quiet stirring begin deep in her heart. It dampened the thrilling feeling running down her spine slightly. It was longing in its most crippling form. The kind that you felt you shouldn't allow yourself to feel, but at the same time it felt utterly right. It would be all too wonderful to give in. Too wonderful.

"How far away is this place, anyway?"

Naomi quickened her steps, "Not too far…" she trailed as she caught up to Emily. They walked in sync for a few moments before she grabbed Emily's hand to make her stop walking and pulled her into a hug. Her arms wrapped clumsily around the girl's tiny frame and the large pack sitting on her back. The redhead's hands slipped around Naomi's waist and into the tiny space between her back and her bag. They held on tightly, almost crushing each other.

Their roadside embrace was broken by a lone car wandering slowly up the road. Breaking apart, they watched it roll away.

"Let's go." Naomi said and stepped around Emily.

It took less than another half hour to reach the familiar fence. When they did, Naomi crouched down to inspect it. She seemed unsatisfied when she stood again and she dropped her bag on the floor to rummage through it. Will's old wire cutters were located at the bottom of the bag. They were pulled from the bag as she leaned forward to examine the barricade between the pair and the trains. The old hole was covered up by a rusty old piece of metal. Seems like other people had continued cutting in the same hole after she and Will and the workers finally gave up on fixing it properly. She smiled and straightened herself up before kicking the flimsy piece in. From the corner of her eye, she saw Emily advance slightly. Naomi held out her hand to get Emily to stop.

"Don't go yet."

She bent down to make the hole larger, not wanting the chance of the jagged ends of the fence digging into any part of Emily like it had done her.

"Okay now. You go first."

They entered and reached the tracks without incident.

"Naomi?" Emily asked, from somewhere behind the blonde.

Naomi continued examining the cars, trying to find the right one. "Hm?"

"Won't your freight be gone? Isn't this place where they just keep them for a certain amount of time?"

"You're right." Naomi faced Emily, "but the train we painted was on a dead track. Hasn't moved in ages."

The blonde unexpectedly began to jog as she realised which track it was. They jogged down the aisle together and stopped at a bright piece. It stood out more than all the other ones down the line. Will's yellow and violet combination a bit duller than it was a few years ago, but still brighter than anything else on the train. Her eyes travelled to the piece next to it, attached by a tiny tendril of paint that blended from the yellow into a shining golden colour. The gold went on to coalesce inconsistently with a royal blue. Naomi moved back to take in the whole second piece. With the royal blue acting as a base colour to the lighter values of blue that were merging and twirling on top of it. The lightest shade of blue on the piece reflected the powerful, unsettled sea in the blonde's eyes.

As always the first word, Will's part, said Spunk and the second one attached to it said Nix.

"Wow." was heard from the side and Naomi remembered that she wasn't alone.

Emily was stood directly in front of Will's part, studying every detail. Naomi watched her hand as it traced the bridge leading to her own part.

"And you're Nix?"

Naomi confirmed and went to stand beside Emily. The redhead stood on the tips of her toes and tried to run her hand along the border of the highest letter. She couldn't reach. "How did you get so high?"

Naomi smirked, "Well first of all, I'm taller than you…and the second time we came around we brought some crates with us. Useful fucking things."

When they were done admiring the work, they sat in front of it with their backs resting against the bottom of the freight.

"I'm so hungry!" Emily exclaimed as she ripped open the back pack and pulled out the mounds of food piled in.

Naomi stared at the mountain of food, "When the fuck did you get all that in there? I only saw you put fruit."

"I'm sneaky and stole the entire contents of your fridge."

"I'm not surprised." She grabbed a container of blueberries from Emily's lap.

Naomi shifted closer to Emily and saw the redhead glance at her in her peripheral vision. The blonde made eye contact with Emily and they smiled at each other.

Naomi wondered what could be better than chilling in a freight yard in front of one of the biggest and most brilliant paintings she'd ever created with a sweet, beautiful girl? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. At least, not in Naomi's mind.

Their meal lasted until nightfall, which wasn't that long since the light from the sky had been diminishing even before they'd entered the yard. Halfway through the meal they'd broken open the pack of beers and finished all six off. They were on the second pack when they decided to get up and stretch their legs.

Emily was a bit more enthusiastic about her actions and began stretching like she was preparing herself for a strenuous work out. She almost fell onto the opposite freight.

The blonde bent over and laughed at Emily, "What the fuck was that?"

"I'll have you know…" she started as she corrected her balance, "That I am very athletic."

"I'm sure that's true." Naomi said, not believing Emily for a second.

"It's true." The redhead poked Naomi in the chest. "I bet I can lift you up."

"You so can't."

Emily bent down and wrapped her arms around the top of Naomi's thighs, her forearms meeting right under her bum. She heaved Naomi up and the blonde swore as their joined equilibrium faltered. They both laughed as Emily attempted to keep them upright by taking tiny, quick steps backwards. Attempt failing, they tumbled to the ground. Their landing was rough and they didn't move for a few moments, both slightly dazed. The blonde lifted her body up so she was on all fours. She stared at the ground for a second before inclining her head even more to look down her body and between her knees. Emily was on her back and looking up at her with her head between the blonde's thighs. The redhead spoke, "Well…This is awkward." Giggles erupted from both of them, impeding their movement.

"I'd appreciate it if you got up and moved your crotch out of my face." Emily said through her laughing.

"Yeah right, isn't this what you've always wanted?" The blonde prodded in response, smiling.

Emily lightly punched the backside hovering over her head with her fist, "Not with your clothes on, it isn't." she pushed Naomi off, both of them still chuckling minutes after the fall.

Two pairs of legs danced around each other as they flitted around and cleaned up the area they'd been occupying. Both of their alcohol induced hazes were hovering in every crease of their brains, making the clean up take much longer than it should.

The calm atmosphere was broken by a male voice, "Whoa, sorry. I didn't realise anyone was here…"

Naomi looked up and squinted through the dark, "It's fine."

"Are you guys painting?" the person asked as he took a few steps forward. Naomi could finally make out his face. She felt like she knew him, but she didn't know why or from where.

"No, just looking at an old piece I did a while back…"

She saw the man's brow furrow and realisation dawn on his face. "Oh shit…"

"What?" she looked at him, confused.

"You and your friend…what was his name-"

"Spunk." the blonde filled in.

"Yeah…you guys cornered me and some friends in the tracks here a few years back."

Recognition was ignited in Naomi's brain and she nodded, "Yeah you were those kids making a mess and being fucking idiots."

The guy laughed, "Too true. After that I thought about what your friend said to us. Became a better painter because of it. Too much of the game is based on ego nowadays and not the actual work. It's truly a shame."

Naomi nodded, encouraging him to go on.

"My crew looked up to you guys after that. Even though you guys weren't like…the senior writers of the city, you still had the right attitude. When we found out your friend died…" he trailed, catching the blonde's change in demeanour at the mention of Will. She looked down and her hands played with one another.

"We were some of the kids that spread his name around the city. We were gutted too, even if we didn't know you guys. Sorry for your loss. And sorry for being a dickhead the last time we met here. Anyway…" the guy dug both hands into his pockets, "I'll let you be here. I'll just come back another time…" he began to walk away.

"Hey.." she called out to him. He turned around.

"Thanks." she smiled sadly and he nodded. When he was around the corner, Naomi turned to face Emily. They stared at each other. Naomi feeling some sort of weight lifting from her shoulders as she thought about Will being remembered by writers they didn't even know. She called up every distant memory of every time she'd passed a wall on a street and saw "R.I.P. Spunk." scrawled across it, messy or otherwise. He was known. Not really forgotten. Someone just had to really bring the memory back to life. When she got home or when she had time she would carry out the plan that had sprouted the last time she'd gone to his grave and saw Freddie there. But for now, she would focus on the present. What was right in front of her.

She dropped the crap in her hands and strode straight towards Emily.

Emily looked apprehensive. She'd never seen that determination present in the blonde's eyes before. She didn't know what to expect.

Naomi continued advancing on the redhead. When she reached her, she seized both of Emily's hands in her own and commanded them to connect around her neck. Her own hands then fell upon Emily's hips and she walked her backwards until a freight was pressed against the redhead's back. She let her forehead rest on Emily's shoulder.

"Hi." she whispered into the redhead's neck, like it was the first time they'd met.

"Hey." Emily responded, stroking the back of Naomi's neck. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know. I just felt like I had to be near you…"

"Okay."

They stayed just like that, relishing in the contact when Naomi moved her head and kissed the soft skin of Emily's cheek. Her lips rested on the same spot until she found the courage to skim them along the side of Emily's face until they reached her lips.

Even though they had shared a kiss earlier in the day it still made her nervous. It frightened her and her legs shook with the vehemence to run while her heart trembled with ardour. The sensation of the redhead's mouth finally moving against her own shook her from thinking about her jelly legs.

It was slow, but passionate and Naomi pushed herself into Emily to fully feel the smaller girl's body humming with energy against her own. Her thumbs stroked the curve of the hips that her hands were clinging to as Emily's tongue slipped into her mouth. Each caress of their tongues and hands worked together to heighten her senses. Every nerve was kindled with a little fire of desire so that when Emily's hand moved over her shoulder and down the front of her body to brush lightly over her breast Naomi felt her body jolt with an intense sexual zeal that she hadn't felt in a very long time. Shaky hands moved under the barrier of clothing that was a t-shirt to allow fingers to stretch across a smooth abdomen.

Emily broke the kiss to take in a shuddering breath as Naomi lightly ran her nails up and down her sides. The hands finally settled on the small of her back, with palms flush against the warm skin. Emily's eyes bore into Naomi's, almost challenging, as she reached around the blonde's waist and pulled her even closer, moving her thigh between them to push up against her centre. Naomi closed her eyes briefly and her teeth raked roughly over her own bottom lip as the feeling of Emily rubbing herself between her legs ran through her body. They kept eye contact even when Emily pushed her back against the freight and used it to jut her hips out even more as they created their own rhythm to grind to.

Completely absorbed in their own little world, they did not hear a worker turning the corner to do his rounds. Only a resounding whack of a flashlight against a train roused them from their lusty haze. They jumped apart to located the noise. A man shone the light on them and grinned "You can continue if you'd like."

Emily picked up their belongings as Naomi moved to stand in front of the man. His smile grew. She smiled and reached around one of his shoulders to hold him in place. While he was distracted, she swiftly lifted her knee and crushed it between his legs. He fell to the ground, clutching his manhood and Naomi sneered, "You dirty fucking dick. I should cut your fucking cock off."

"Naomi! Let's just fucking leave." She pulled Naomi along the path they travelled to get there. They reached the fence and climbed through. Emily broke the silence, "So, why was your bike left behind?"

Naomi's head snapped up in surprise at being addressed, "Oh um…Well we got chased out by a worker and when I tried getting through the fence, a sharp end stabbed my thigh and we took one bike because I wasn't in the right state to ride it back home."

Emily winced as she imagined the metal digging into the blonde's leg.

They walked along the road. They didn't need to talk about what had just happened in the yard or even earlier in the day. They didn't need to discuss what they were. If they were an item or not - it didn't matter. They were just two people that needed each other in every way. However, there was a silent agreement that they wouldn't show another person the attention that they paid to one another, emotionally or physically.

Naomi heard Emily chuckle.

"What?" she threw out into the night air.

"There's one thing for certain…" Emily smiled and looked up at the sky, "I surely won't be getting any sleep."

Naomi rolled her eyes but smiled because it seemed like Emily's mind was always in the gutter, no matter what.

* * *

**UMMMMMMMMMMM, I don't know if those bikes are available in other places but yeah they're like...bikes just sitting along the sidewalk, usually near metros, and you can pay like 5 bucks to ride them around for the day. Though if you don't bring it back, you're charged 250 bucks because it's done through a credit card.**

**this is late but you call graff artists writers. (lol obviously, from what you've read)**

**toys are amateur artists, but the term is often used as an insult to writers that are less experienced or have a shit way of going about things.**

**_Vangoghgurrl_, Haha, hopefully this here had the same reaction. No need to beg, there's a lot of art to come ;)**

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, I managed to even out the present and past here. So yay! Seriously, if she used any of the lines on me I'd be fucking toast even if they're lame.**

**_jaxi_, Aw, thank you! and I am glad that I can show you a tiny part of the world behind the graff. And it's fine if you leave a short review, I'm thankful for anything really, so thanks again :)**

**_HyperFitched_, Loool, Slutface was actually inspired by someone I encountered at a party some time ago. Minus the jealousy because there was no one to be jealous for, but she was still really annoying. I really hope this freight thing and like Naomi revealing a part of herself lived up to expectations. Also, I'm shit at reviewing as I've said, so I just don't do it but I'll just tell you here that I've read your most recent story and it's great (more than great) and I really think that slutface and surfslut should have a party and get together. Thanks again :)**

**_lazyboo_, Emily def knows something that Naomi knows she knows, obviously. But yes, it's a bit more than I've revealed so far. Thanks for your review. Totally stoked that I can provide laughter.**

**_fleetingcourage_, ey terrible reviewers unite, thanks for your review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**hands up for the people that alerted and favoured.**

**peace.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry, this chapter is a little boring. But I had to set the wheels in motion for the next phase. also this was supposed to be put up two days ago, hence the Christmas eve/Christmas flashback. but eeeh I've been slow.**

**Who likes skating that's not on ice?**

* * *

_She held the cold substance in her hand and watched it melt with the heat of her palm. It quickly turned into a tiny puddle. After the thrill of having something freezing in her hand passed, she turned her hand over and let the now warm water drop onto the rest of the snow that covered the ground. It left tiny craters on the top layer of the snow where the water's warmth was able to infiltrate it. But the snow froze it again and the warmth had to eventually stop seeping into the chilly surface._

_She walked on with numb feet. New boots were needed but she never bothered to get any, so the water always slowly crept through the cheap material. She didn't really care at the moment though, she was focused on the time. Trying to pass it without looking at her phone every minute. Someone was meant to meet her here. On the top of this hill._

_It had been a weird time for her when she had decided to call Emily. She never called Emily. She always just happened to run into her. It wasn't that difficult really, since they went to the same school and that meant attending a lot of the same parties. But Naomi had only caught glimpses of the redhead around school since that time two months ago…when Naomi had basically told her to fuck off after having been passed out in her house for several hours. Right, Katie saves her and then she repays them by acting like a complete shithead. Sounded like a typical move made by one Naomi Campbell._

_She couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when she chose to call Emily. She had been sitting on her bed, unable to sleep, listening to her mum walk around the house preparing random shit for Christmas. Her mum was always one of those people that did everything late. Figures she'd still be up at eleven on Christmas eve trying to sort everything. There wasn't any specific reason why she couldn't sleep. Or maybe that was wrong. It had nothing to do with cunty day tomorrow. Something had reminded her of Emily and had set off a long, winding string of thoughts concerning the redhead that she couldn't shake. So she called her. And now she was waiting for her at the top of Mount Royal and it was now the twenty fifth of December as her phone let her know. She couldn't care less._

_She walked a bit more down the path and came to a snow covered bench. Even if her hands were already freezing, she reached over to wipe the substance off the seat. Sitting down , she shivered as the chilly feeling crept into the back of her pants to numb her thighs. Teeth chattered slightly while she hugged herself for any warmth she could keep. She was rocking back and forth when Emily appeared beside her._

_"Hey."_

_She sounded breathless, like she ran the whole way there. Naomi lifted her head to look at her. Thinking that, knowing Emily, she probably did run all the way to this spot._

_The redhead was carrying a large bag. She put it down beside the bench before taking a seat next to Naomi. The blonde watched her as she took in the view of the city from the hill. Christmas lights below them sitting on the trees and buildings downtown were their only source of light. They lit Emily's eyes up as the brown orbs roamed over every detail from their faraway position. Naomi tore her eyes away for a few seconds only to have them land back on the redhead once again. The top of her hat had a bit of snow resting on it, probably from when she had to bow her head to get under a branch when going through the tight path. Her cheeks were tinged a light pink from the cold, almost unnoticeable, but Naomi spotted it either way. She smiled slightly when she saw Emily's nose twitch, trying to get some feeling back into her face after having the wind whip against it for so long. The redhead's lips were parted and light bursts of frosty air were being released. Naomi wanted so much to just lean over and inhale it to see if it was as sweet as she thought it was. Because that's what Emily was - sweet._

_She hasn't participated in any of the city's street crime. She didn't partake in vandalism or stealing or any of the things Naomi was familiar with. They were from two completely different worlds. But still, Naomi couldn't stop herself from seeking Emily out._

_She couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that permeated the euphoria consuming her when the tiny girl arrived. It felt as thought she was luring the redhead into a trap. For now, they were just dancing around each other. Emily's feet were only missing the pitfall by centimetres because it was camouflaged underneath all of the layers that she thought Naomi was made of. How long would it take to bring Emily down with her?_

_Without Will, Naomi was teetering on the edge of self-destruction. The only thing holding her back from completely submerging herself in that never-ending cycle was a tiny fire burning bright in the glacial hollow of her chest. She mused that the moment she'd met Emily, the redhead had packed a tent and decided to camp out in her heart. When things got too difficult for Naomi to cope, Emily sparked a fire to warm her up and keep her moving. In Naomi's eyes, it was almost saintly. Emily knew almost nothing about Naomi's personal life. She didn't know why the blonde was almost always in a bad mood, but she tried comforting her anyway. When Naomi acted like a twat for no apparent reason, she stuck around. She did so many selfless things just for Naomi and didn't expect anything in return._

_The blonde was becoming excruciatingly aware of the dependency and attachment that she was developing for Emily. Even more, she was aware that the redhead was responsible for any sliver of hope that was still nestled in her mind._

_Naomi's eyes finally turned away to look ahead at the bright lights._

_"It's beautiful." Emily said._

_Naomi nodded, but disagreed "It looks it. Those lights are only the surface of the city…" she sighed "…hidden underneath are horrible people. Some kill, some steal, some take advantage of others. It's all fucking screwed up. The saddest thing though is that those are the people who get noticed. Not the wonderful ones. Not the ones that make a difference or the ones that spread a positive message. Like you can have someone paint something about racial unity in an alley but they'll get arrested for having vandalised property. Then someone will tag over it for no fucking reason with nothing significant to say and they won't get touched. Or someone can be fucking violated under the painting and guess what? No one will ever know. But then the guy who was nailed for painting is still sitting in a fucking cell."_

_Emily was looking at her now. She could feel those lively eyes practically blazing through her skin; the only barrier she had. She looked down and kept her gaze away from the redhead._

_"Is there a reason you asked me to come here?"_

_"Probably." Naomi replied, "But I don't know why. I don't really know you."_

_"Well…the lack of knowledge is mutual."_

_"Then why do you make the effort?"_

_"To try and get to know you.?"_

_"Yeah."_

_There was silence as the redhead contemplated the question. Naomi heard her take a deep breath before speaking "I suppose I don't know much about you or your habits or what you do in your spare time, but I can say I like what I have seen…"_

_Naomi was about to interrupt, but Emily cut her off, "And you're more visible than you think. For example, amongst the kids in our school that don't give a fuck about anything but themselves, someone organises fundraisers and charity events. Every time I check the name of the person in charge, it's always you…and there's always these really cool posters with really nice designs to advertise donations and I just assume you made them…which means you're into art, right?"_

_All Naomi could do was nod. Emily continued._

_"But lately I haven't seen any and I always wonder what happened. You obviously enjoyed doing it and people don't just stop doing the things they love for no reason…" Emily trailed off, hinting for Naomi to fill in the blank. The blonde didn't._

_Emily clicked her tongue and huffed. "Why are you making things so difficult for me?"_

_"I'm sorry." was all Naomi offered as she watched the redhead stand and brush the snow off of her pants._

_"It's just…I want to know you. Really know you. But everything you give to me is useless…the only time I've ever seen you say something to me without thinking about it is when you're fucking wasted. While it's fun in the moment, I wake up the next day and it just leaves me fucking sad because to get that wall down I have to approach you when your perception of the world is skewed by some sort of substance. That's not real. It's not something I can work with. I just want you." Emily looked away and Naomi saw her wipe her eyes. The blonde didn't say anything, figuring that the redhead probably wouldn't like it if she pointed out her crying. She wouldn't have admitted it at that time, but seeing Emily shed tears over her made her feel like she'd done the entire world wrong._

_"I can't…I can't do that right now." Naomi stood and took a few steps until she was standing right in front of Emily. She pulled her into a hug and felt the small girl shake lightly in her arms, letting the wave of tears wash over her. Naomi whispered into her ear, "You shouldn't be crying, especially not over me." Emily shrugged into their hug and pushed herself out of the embrace. She looked Naomi straight in the eye. "That's ridiculous. You deserve everything I can give to you." she took a step back, "You're truly beautiful. In every way. It pains me that you don't see it. Whatever's going on, I hope you get through it." She squeezed Naomi's hand then she disappeared back down the path._

_There you have it. She was finally able to push Emily away from the pitfall. Or maybe she just pushed her in. Naomi didn't know anymore. Everything was so fucking confusing. She balled her fists up in frustration and looked around. Stomping around the top of the hill in anger, she thought she would always remain the lonely fucking queen. Sitting in her throne and not letting anyone touch her. Always stay on top. Always stay in control. She walked up to the bench and kicked it. She ripped her scarf off and tore her jacket from her body, throwing them onto the mounds of snow surrounding her. She gasped for air, feeling feverish while her body was battling with the cold. Her trembling hands reached for the bag that Emily left and pulled out whatever was inside._

_With her breath swirling angrily from her mouth, she dropped the item into the snow. Her knees followed soon after. The snow quickly infiltrated the stiff fibres of her jeans and chilled her legs to the bone. She ran her hand along the sleek wood of the underside of the skateboard. Turning it over, her fingers traced the grip tape on the top of the plank. She wondered how Emily knew that she'd broken her old one trying to land a jump during the summer. Numb hands curled themselves around two of the wheels and pulled them sideways slightly to see how well they rotated. Maybe Emily was psychic. Or perhaps she really was a saint because she was fucking perfect. Naomi wasn't exactly one to believe in all of that but Emily stirred something in her that she couldn't explain in words. It was completely unearthly but felt natural all the same._

_She stuck all of her fingers out except for her thumb to flick them quickly against one of the tiny wheels. It rolled fluidly with no awkward breaks in the motion and without getting jammed, unlike like her old board. She flipped it again, this time to examine the art on the smooth side. On it was a blue jay weaving its way through some colourful leaves mid-air. It wouldn't have been something she picked out for herself. It was too delicate. If she had gone on her own to get one it probably would have had an image that had a more aggressive feeling to it. Like her previous one had a snake on it. The change was fitting though. She no longer felt strong anyway. She felt like prey to the jaws of life. The snake could no longer represent her because she'd lost her spark and her mouth could no longer snap with an insult that made you feel like the biggest dick on the planet._

_When her legs, arms and hands began to burn with the cold, she stood up. Shivers shocked her spine and ran unpleasantly through her limbs, but she didn't put the layers she'd discarded back on. Instead, she moved forward and down the path with the board in her hands. The speed of her steps increased and her hat blew off. She dropped the item in her hands to chase after the hat. There was no way in hell the world was taking that tiny connection to Will away too._

_She found it a few feet away, buried in the snow as the light fall of the flakes increased to become a bit more violent. She put the hat on tightly and grabbed the plank again._

_When she was all the way down the mountain, she stepped onto the sidewalk that wasn't fully covered by the snow just yet. The board was dropped onto the concrete and she placed one foot on an end to make it tip upward slightly. A cold breath entered her body and froze her lungs. Her heart beat frantically against the ice sheet that was her chest. One foot planted itself more fully on the board. A feeling of excitement bubbled up into her almost numb brain. She kicked her other foot out and propelled herself forward._

_The wheels of the skateboard slid dangerously along the wetness of the ground but she kept on anyway. Kicking and pushing until she could relax and coast down the street for a few blocks. All of the noise from the cars and wind couldn't be heard. Everything was being blocked out. She took a sharp turn onto a street and stopped abruptly. It was just off a main street but at the end, behind a fence, were train tracks. She stared down the steep road before deciding to kick her foot out once more. Only one hard knock was needed for her to fall over the edge and ride straight down. The momentum built up and she reached her highest speed halfway down the slope. She was losing control of the board and she didn't give a flying fuck. She knew if she didn't put her foot out now to slow down that she would slam right into the fence._

_In a moment of panic her foot shot out to stop the board, but the friction of her boot against the pavement did nothing to slacken the speed. Her boot was ripped off and she put her foot back on the wood. She bent her knees in preparation for the collision and braced herself for the pain._

_The impact came seconds later. She flew straight through the flimsy fence and rolled down a tiny ditch to land on her back beside a track. The skateboard came seconds later to hit her in the stomach._

_Winded and heaving for breath, she stayed still, just staring up at the cloudy sky. She could have fallen asleep right then and there because of the cold._

_She stood and grabbed the board. Her eyes swept over the tracks and she quickly became agitated once again. Rough hands clamped down onto the edge of the skateboard to lift it up and slam it down against the tracks over and over until it splintered and fell apart. The rage dissipated soon after and she froze for a few seconds before realising that the frenzied chatter in her brain had quietened._

**ooo**

Will's hat sat sagging on her head. She hadn't bothered to pull it on properly, but she wanted to feel the material somehow. So it was just resting on her head, all floppy. Emily had gone home since she had college tomorrow. As they agreed a few days earlier, she would return to Naomi's apartment after her classes tomorrow to drop off the blonde's homework.

Naomi was seated at her kitchen table for the millionth time that week, her foot resting on a chair, still not fully healed because she had run around on it like an idiot all day. The more severe ache was worth it though for the time she'd spent with Emily.

She was building a house out of her paint markers because inspiration was lacking and she was bored. One last marker was placed on the top of the house and caused it to crumbled down. Sighing in disappointment, she grabbed the markers and lined them up in order of colour on the table. When that was done, she rested her head in her hands and sighed again. Staring hard at the markers, she willed her brain to come up with something to do.

Eventually, she got up from the chair and limped down the hallway. When she reached her living room, she went straight for the closet. She dug through all crap lined up inside of it and reached the back. Feeling around the wall, she looked for something that would be leaning up against it. Her fingers brushed over the object and backtracked to grab it. She pulled it out and almost fell from the force. Lips curled up slightly into a smile when she saw the skateboard standing on it's four wheels. The thick layers of duct tap surrounding the broken wood held it together. Not strong enough for her to ride it anymore, but sturdy enough for her to lay her back on it and roll herself across the smooth hard wood floors of her home. It made a noise across the surface that was probably annoying for whoever lived underneath her, but she didn't care about that. She was enjoying the glide back to her kitchen. Her head was almost smashed against a wall multiple times as she steered herself around the kitchen table. She stopped and stared up at the ceiling.

"God, this is so dumb." she mumbled to herself, feeling a little pathetic. She closed her eyes and fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

She woke up half an hour later, still on the skateboard. Her back ached slightly, but she sat up straight due to an idea popping into her head. The force of the abrupt sit up caused her weight to shift onto one side of the board, which lead to it snapping up and hitting her back. She groaned at her clumsiness and rubbed her back to soothe it. Carefully getting up, she grabbed her markers and stared at the front door. It was childish, what she was about to do, but she couldn't help the need to create something to decorate the dull environment.

Sitting in front of her door, she uncapped one of the colouring utensils. The tip aimlessly scribbled on the door at first before she dragged it around to begin drawing the letter N. After finishing the three letters of her tag, she went on to doodle across the entire length of the door. When she was done, she sat back on her calves and stared at what other people would call a complete mess. Not one part of the door was left untouched. It was filled with random animals, objects and words. All connected by any detail that was able to be distorted to fit into something else.

She shot up suddenly, wanting to locate her phone. The pockets of the jacket that was thrown onto the couch were assaulted until her hand came across the familiar shape of the electronic. She pulled it out and hastily scrolled through her contacts until she reached Freddie. Bringing the phone to her ear, she waited with bated breath for him to answer. After quite a few rings and slightly diminished hope, he did as she pleaded.

"Hello?" he sounded a little groggy. Shit, she forgot to check the time. Whatever, too late now.

"Freds?" she whispered, because she felt like he was in a state too delicate to hear her voice at it's normal volume.

"Yeaaah…" he drawled, "Who's this?"

"It's Naomi." she heard him shift a bit before he replied.

"Oh, hey…What's up?"

"Remember when I told you we had to do something for Will at the cemetery?"

"Yeah…"

"Get everyone together." she was speaking louder now.

"'Everyone' meaning?"

"The remainder of the crew. All the other ones we used to roll with."

"Jesus…" he spoke at a higher volume too now. He sounded a bit annoyed but she could tell there was a hint of excitement lacing his tone. "Some of those crews aren't even together anymore."

"It doesn't matter. Get as many people as you can. Tell Q to get everyone he can as well. I'll call you again in a few days when I decide which day we'll meet. Do it, okay?"

"Right. I will."

"Thanks, Freddie."

"It's not problem, Nai. He deserves it."

"Yeah, he does. Talk to you soon."

"Bye."

She punched the end call button and plopped herself down on the couch. Excitement flowed through her veins and she felt like she couldn't sit still. She fidgeted until she decided to get up and grab her markers for a second go on the walls of her house.

Running back into her living room, she jumped onto her couch and knocked the giant painting that was hanging over it off the wall. It fell and slid off the seat but thankfully didn't break. This wall was her fucking canvas now. This boring, white wall. It would map out what she was going to paint for Will. She wasn't going to keep her own tag for this. It had to be big. Bigger than Nix. Something that would shock the fuck out of the other writers.

She would adopt Spunk. And she would paint the biggest, brightest fucking piece anyone in the city would ever lay their eyes on.

She chose blue and red as the main colours. Their different values would be manipulated with the red surrounding the blue, taking up most of the outline. When they merged slightly it would make purple; Will's favourite colour. It took her over three hours to complete the blue part; the part that actually spelled out the name and another hour and a half to do the red outline. Halfway through she wondered why she was using such small markers to get it done, but she shrugged it off since it was already too late to change her mind.

When she leapt off the couch to examine her work from a better view, only one thing shot through her mind.

Spunk was very much alive.

* * *

**k lol for the last sentence I couldn't stop imagining Tom Riddle saying "Voldemort will return...VERY MUCH ALIIIIVEEE." aaanyway**

**_Vangoghgurrl_, Aw well thaaanks it took me like a million years to come up with that loool. I think it's Naomi's mind being lovely ;)**

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, Hahahhha many people seem to be big fans of Naomi's knee ramming that guy. I hope I didn't disappoint with there being no pervy Emily here, but just sad Emily. Sad Emily makes me sad. Thanks for your review once again. It's really appreciated.**

**_starsdieout_, Well here's another Christmas present, kind of :) the poison ivy is such a bitch and is really hard to avoid in certain spots when you're painting. it's really, really, really, really (really) frustrating. Glad you liked the freight scene, I felt weird about it, so yay. Thanks for your reviewing.**

**Just to say the cardinals and blue jays are actually there for a reason lol. cardinals (which are connected to Emily, yeahhhh) represent sexuality, renewal, self-reflection, vitality, brilliance and some other things I forget for the moment. and the blue jays (tha nai nai) represent communication, intelligence, curiosity, clarity and determination.**

**plus they look pretty together :D**

http:/ /i**[dot]**pbase**[dot]**com/o6/20/253220/1/93535343**[dot]**eWOGogpZ**[dot]**01P2274587copy**[dot]**jpg

**k this is getting really long but if anyone read Fortress, the second story I put up for like a few hours (lol) this week you may or may not have noticed its disappearance. Something was seriously bugging the shit out of me about it and I just had to remove it. It will come back...eventually. perhaps with a completely different storyline. so yeah jus sayin :)**

**peace and much love to yuh and enjoy yer fuckin lives mayun.**


	18. Chapter 18

**So this one really gave me a hard time. I have about three other memories that I started but didn't continue on with because they felt out of place. I couldn't get anything to flow until I thought of going way back. Like, WAAAAY.**

* * *

_The small five year old sat at her own table. By definition, she was lonely. With no one around her, she was free to take up every inch of space on the tiny table. The surface seemed massive to her wide, innocent eyes. She had no qualms about not sharing the space, but she wouldn't have minded if someone came to join her. In her mind, she was not lonely. She had the cheap dollar store bought paint in front of her and leaking from her fingers to keep her company. Any paint to her was gold. Cheap didn't yet exist in her personal dictionary._

_People weren't cheap. Paint quality wasn't cheap. Life wasn't cheap and it wasn't taken from good people at the wrong time. Nothing was cheap._

_Her tongue poked out from the inside of her mouth whilst she ran one finger down the page in front of her. The blue paint rubbed off her digit without any difficulty. It came out kind of clumpy, to her slight annoyance. She stamped the lumps down with her thumb and smiled when she noticed that her fingerprint was now engraved into different areas of the page. At her young age she'd learnt enough to know that it was something that would never change. It was permanent._

_The hand that held traces of blue paint dipped deeply into the jar that housed the yellow paint. Traces of green were left in the jar, where they shouldn't have been. It didn't occur to her that people who wanted strictly yellow paint would get upset that someone had forced blue into the mix to create the third earthly colour._

_She pulled her hand out and grinned as she leaned her elbow on the table to watch the thick substance dribble from the pool of her palm and down her arm. Two large globules raced down the forearm until one reached the bend of her limb and got lodged there. The second one went straight passed her elbow and began to form a puddle on the table. Her big blue eyes widened as they realised the mess she'd made. She felt like she couldn't move, so she stayed frozen there, staring at the paint all over her arm until someone noticed her._

_"Naomi!" the teacher scolded as she came up behind the small girl. "Why did you do this?"_

_She didn't answer. Her eyes never left the brightly tinted liquid still streaming steadily onto the table._

_The teacher sighed and grabbed Naomi's clean arm to drag her towards the sink in the corner of the classroom._

_Her brow furrowed as she watched the water wash the paint away with ease. She didn't like that, not one bit. Blue eyes finally left the arm to look at the authoritative figure._

_"Don't do that again, okay?"_

_Naomi didn't nod her head or make any movement that hinted that she'd heard the woman. She just continued to stare, feeling unapologetic for the "mess" she'd caused. It wasn't a mess to her. It had been fun and she had done what her instincts had told her to do: Spread the paint. Everywhere._

_She trudged back to her solitary seat, feeling a sense of loss for the paint's life that had been cut short. Looking at her elbow one last time, she grinned in triumph when she saw that a smidge of paint had encrusted itself on the side of it. She looked around as if it was the most scandalous thing ever._

_Jars of paint were still scattered across her table and she smiled at them, content to continue her stunning disarray of colour. This time though, her hand submerged itself in a deep crimson. Pulling it out, instead of letting it drip like last time, she quickly slapped her hand onto the paper. The paint splashed up and in all directions, landing all over the wood surface and her face. She grimaced slightly as her tongue came out in reflex to lick the fleck of red paint that had landed on her lip. It didn't taste bad, but it wasn't something that she wanted to taste ever again. She removed her hand from the page to admire the minuscule human print. The other hand, the one that had done nothing but watch, moved up from the other side of the page. Fingertips penetrated the surface of the blue paint until her whole hand was in the jar, making the paint overflow onto the table again. It congregated around the bottom rim of the container. She pulled her hand out and this time she gently laid her hand onto the page so that the blue print was slightly overlapping the red print. Removing her hand she looked on at the image and let out a tiny squeal when the purple in between both marks made from the merging hues was brought to her attention. She laughed openly, her head swinging forward, causing her light brown hair to fall onto the page and get tangled in the paint. Her laughter stopped abruptly, but she was still smiling. She shook her head so that the tips of her mane dragged across the page to pick up more paint. Both hands reached up to twirl with two locks on either side of her face before she pulled them down with her head to rub the hair across the page. She liked how the light brown of her hair mingled with the blue and the red. Baby teeth bit down on her bottom lip somewhat ineffectively, since one incisor was missing from being knocked out by a soccer ball._

_A loud eruption of noise from across the room distracted her from rubbing the hair any further into the paper. She turned to watch the scene._

_Two girls were pushing and shoving each other at a table. Naomi couldn't catch what they were screeching at one another. It sounded like a different language altogether. One was shoved backwards off of her chair. She landed on her butt and Naomi flinched in wanting to her help her, but she couldn't make herself move from her chair. The girl that had fallen was up and quickly moved forward towards the opponent. She grabbed the arm of the other and yanked it towards her mouth. Naomi winced as she watched the girl's teeth sink into her adversary's arm. The opponent screamed and jumped off her chair. She knocked both of them to the ground and they rolled into the leg of their own table. Containers of paint fell to the ground with an explosion for every impact. Naomi thought it was like watching fireworks. Thick liquid spattered onto their dresses in seemingly disorganised chaos. But Naomi found a pattern to match her different mind. Anyone else would see it as something they would just have to clean up later. She saw it as something to salvage._

_The two girls continued to roll around in the paint until the teacher put a stop to it. The one that had bitten the other was pulled away from the brawl._

_"Stop fighting with your sister!" the older woman demanded right in the tiny girl's face._

_"But she-" the girl's voice cracked and Naomi noticed her eyes welled up slightly at being addressed by someone who she was supposed to be well behaved for._

_"Go sit at the time out table."_

_The girl hung her head and walked slowly towards the table that Naomi was seated at. She gingerly sat in the chair across from Naomi and she lifted her head to peek at her from under her fringe._

_Naomi smiled softly at her and pushed a jar of paint towards the other girl. Large brown eyes flickered hesitantly back and forth between the paint and the person who offered it to her. Shy hands emerged from under the table to grab the container. They painted together but on separate pages. They didn't speak, but sometimes they looked up at the same moment and they grinned at each other._

_Naomi stopped painting to look at the shade of the other girl's hair. It was brown, but much darker than her own. It reminded her of the rich chocolate that her mum hid from her because it caused her to get stomach aches. The colour of the girl's hair was too deep and too beautiful it almost made Naomi's teeth ache for how sweetly it sat on top of the girl's head. She looked much cuter than Naomi. Like a child that could be featured on those weird, overly sappy commercials for chocolate chip cookies that made her cringe even at her young age. In contrast, Naomi looked like a hell raiser. Mousy brown hair mussed with leaves hanging haphazardly from it because she'd been rolling around on the grass outside earlier in the day, pretending to fend off the "sharks" from her boat. She had whacked a few kids a bit too hard with her sword, which is how she'd ended up sitting by herself at the naughty table._

_Her pale, devious eyes met the honest brown ones again for the last time before she acted on impulse. She jumped up from her seat and her dirty hands reached for the other girl's head. Before the dark haired girl could react, Naomi had grabbed hold of her hair to drag it down onto the table. Naomi pushed the hair into the moist paint like she had done to her own. The girl's head bumped the table a bit too hard and she began to cry as Naomi continued to blemish the colour of her hair with the unnatural colours of the mixed paint on the paper._

_When the educator finally noticed what was going on at the back of the classroom, she made her way to the chaos before any more damaged was caused._

_Naomi was lifted away from the second girl by her underarms and she was plopped into a chair in the hallway, away from everyone else. As the teacher began to question her intentions, Naomi didn't pay attention. Instead she craned her neck to see inside the room through the tiny window of the door. She could see the girl whose hair she'd decorated crying still in her seat by herself. The voice of the educator demanded her attention and she shrugged in response to the main question being asked._

_She didn't know why she'd done it. She just did. Not even she could comprehend what had possessed her to do what had taken place minutes before. The instructor continued to berate her, but Naomi still looked at the girl through the window._

_She frowned in shame as she truly felt sorry for hurting the girl's feelings. Looking down at her hands, she sniffled and nodded in time with the words being spat out before her._

_This incident would not be clearly remembered by either of the participants, but what would be recognised for one is the ability to act impulsively without care, and for the other, the ability to trust to an almost crippling extent._

**ooo**

Naomi walked quickly down the main path of the park with Emily trailing behind her. She was rushing even though she was quite early. Her wrist was raised so she could check her watch for the hundredth time. Feet excitedly brushed passed the mounds of dead leaves. She watched the wind carry a few away as she kicked them.

They went passed the children's pool that was just a concrete hole that hadn't been used in years and passed the red chalet that had bathrooms, but no one was ever able to get inside because it was almost always locked.

Both playgrounds that they went by were deserted.

The park itself was pretty much a big pile of shit but Naomi loved it nevertheless. It was the place she'd spent most of her time when she wasn't out with Will. She used to just sit on a bench, pull out a joint and watch everyone around her.

Naomi led them to the baseball field, where they stepped through the sand and eventually reached the bleachers. She climbed to the top most bench and sighed happily when she sat down. Emily dropped her bag onto the bench then sat beside the blonde.

"So, why did you bring me here?"

Naomi laughed before answering because Emily had asked that over and over again the entire way to the park. "I got a group of my old friends to agree to kidnap you."

Emily opened her mouth then closed it, trying not to laugh.

"….no, but really." she said, finally.

"I called some people to help me plan a piece."

"Okay…but that still doesn't answer exactly why I'm here…"

"I wanted you to help...or see. Whatever."

The look of surprise on the redhead's face made Naomi want to laugh some more. Instead she continued, "Why is that so surprising?"

"Well you showed me the freight…I didn't think I'd be participating in the process anytime soon." she tucked some hair behind her ear "Or at all."

"To be honest, I didn't either." Naomi replied, reaching inside her jacket for her pack of cigarettes.

Naomi tried to light up and failed twice before Emily scooted over and made a dome with her own two hands around the blonde's cigarette. Naomi winked in thanks and flicked the lighter. When Emily removed her hands from the rigg, they didn't both fall back down to her side, but one moved to smooth it's thumb across the blonde's cheek and brush some hair away from her face. Emily smiled so widely that her eyes crinkled at the corners. It made Naomi return the gesture and say, "Have I ever told you that you're adorable?"

Emily raised an eyebrow, "I don't think so." she smirked.

"Well, I'm saying it now."

The cigarette was left burning in her hand as Emily leaned forward to press a kiss at the corner of her mouth. She then rested her head on Naomi's shoulder and grabbed the hand that wasn't holding the rigg.

Naomi took a long drag of her cigarette and stared out at the baseball field. The light sand was getting blown in all different directions. Her eyes moved to the sky. The clouds were a light grey, casting a dreary glow on everything below them. She guessed that in the next few days it would snow.

She felt Emily intertwine their fingers and she squeezed her hand for a moment in response.

The peaceful atmosphere was broken by a group of people laughing and talking loudly. Naomi's head shot up to see who they were. Her eyes lit up when she realised it was the group of people she was meeting. The cigarette found itself on the ground and she waited for them to arrive at the bleachers.

She counted the number of people walking towards them. There were ten. Two of them sped up and reached her before the other eight.

They climbed up to sit one bench lower than Naomi and Emily.

"We're finally here!" Freddie said as he leaned forward to hug Naomi's legs because they were the closest part of her body he could reach.

She shook him off, "Get off, you sap." she shifted her gaze to land on the second person. Effy was smirking and looking between Naomi and the redhead. The blonde narrowed her eyes, "You. Stop."

"Stop what?" Effy asked.

"Stop…using _those_ eyes."

"You're delusional. There is nothing going on with my eyes."

"They're ripping me apart and…I bet there's a train of thought going a million miles per second in your mind right about now."

"I don't even have a brain." The brunette's grin widened.

Naomi rolled her eyes but smiled anyway.

Effy turned to Emily and they ended up in deep conversation.

Naomi turned to face Freddie just as the rest of the people arrived. Q was amongst them. After greeting each other, they all took their respective seats on the bleachers and Naomi began to explain what was happening.

"Now since I met all of you…well except Effy, through Will, I thought it would be a good idea to call you all here for some much needed help." They nodded.

"First of all, how many of you got warrants?" Six out of ten raised their hands.

"Okay.." Naomi laughed, "You have to make sure your face stays out of view for what we're doing then." She shifted to get comfortable. "Right…we're going to bomb the city. We're not just going to leave tags. I mean actual pieces for Will. Like, we take his name and put it in the most viewable areas. Trains, trucks, billboards. They have to be huge. Because Spunk is making a comeback in the form of a fucking super crew."

All of them shouted in agreement and shook hands.

"Freddie, Effy and I have got the billboard." She looked at both of them and waited for them to nod. "The rest of you decide what you want to do."

Chatter got louder and louder for the next half an hour as everyone discussed which part they would do. Naomi began to feel inexplicably nervous and her leg began to bounce on it's foot in discomfort. Emily's thumb attempted to calm her down by rubbing the top of her hand. It worked slightly for a few minutes, but then the redhead had to lean in and talk.

"What's wrong?" she asked, in a hushed whisper. It was almost drowned out by the discussion around them.

"I don't know. I just…It's been so long. What if something goes wrong?" Naomi whispered in response.

"I'll be there with you, if you'll let me. Even if something does happen, I'll be your getaway." Emily winked at her. "And you have all of these people who are still fresh…in the…game.."

Naomi cracked up at Emily's choice of words because they just sounded weird coming from her mouth.

"Don't laugh at me or I'll throw more ice down your back later."

Naomi straightened up right away. "You wouldn't." she narrowed her eyes.

"Don't doubt it for a second."

They had been sitting in her apartment yesterday, working silently on college work. When Emily disappeared into the kitchen. Naomi couldn't help but follow after her out of curiosity. When she arrived Emily's face was buried in the fridge and the blonde made a joke about how Emily thought it was okay to just use everything in her apartment without asking. In response, the redhead had opened the freezer, grabbed a handful of ice from a bag and chucked it at Naomi. As a result, some of the cubes had ended up in her clothes. Naomi hated that feeling. It was torturous.

"You're a bitch." the blonde replied to Emily's threat.

"Only because you are." Emily smiled sweetly.

Turning her attention back to the small crowd, Naomi listened to their plans.

Q and three others would hit a few freights on separate nights while the remaining four would hit the trucks.

Naomi watched Emily dig in her pocket for her phone. She raised the phone to read the message then cocked an eyebrow. "Katie wants to meet up with us."

"Can she get to the metro near here in half an hour?"

"I think so, yeah."

"Then sure."

Emily nodded and looked at her phone again. It was dropped back into her coat pocket.

Naomi let go of the redhead's hand and stood up on the bench, "Is everyone set?"

Everyone said yes and she went to step off the bleachers. She almost fell forward but one of the guys, who was much larger than her, caught her around the waist and completely lifted her off the surface to set her down on the ground.

"Thanks, Ray." she smiled at him and he smiled back, looking much less threatening than he first did.

People usually steered clear of him because of his baggy sweaters and pants and his mean looking expression. But she knew better.

"You look good." she said, "How's that album coming along?"

"Oh you know…the recording session got pushed back but I'm still writing my rhymes…Hopefully it picks up soon."

"You're really good. You don't deserve to get slept on."

He shrugged and smiled, Naomi could see the disappointed look in his eye though, "You know how it is. No one is looking for rappers in real city."

"It's a shame." she was genuinely disappointed for him. He spit like the fucking king.

"Thanks." he hugged her and took a few steps back, "We done here?"

She nodded in response.

"All right, I've gotta dip. I've got some stuff to take care of. I'll see you later."

Naomi waved then turned to gesture for Emily to come down from her seat. Effy and Freddie followed.

"What do you want to do now?" asked Freddie.

"I think…" Naomi paused before continuing "that we should pay a visit to the SAQ. And then go find somewhere to eat because I am fucking starving."

"Sweet."

They walked together down the road, bumping into each other while enthusiastically recounting lame stories and laughing at things that no one else would find funny.

Emily tripped over Freddie's larger foot and landed flat on her face. Naomi just pointed and laughed, unable to do much else from the lack of air while Effy just doubled over and chuckled. Freddie rushed to Emily's side to help her up, being more apologetic than necessary.

"It's fine, Freddie." she brushed the dirt off of her pants. "And you two, shut the fuck up."

"I'm not sorry." Naomi gasped, trying to catch her breath. "You fell like a lonely tree in a forest." she lifted her hand made the motion she thought matched Emily's tumble "Whoosh!" she added as a sound effect.

Emily's lips curled upwards slightly but she tried to hide it by stomping away towards the liquor store.

"Hey!" called Naomi.

The three of them stood and watched Emily get farther away.

"Look at her shoulders!" said Effy, "She's fucking laughing!" she began to run towards the redhead.

Naomi and Freddie followed seconds after. They ran until they reached Emily at the entrance to the shop.

"Yous a bebe." Naomi said to Emily as she brushed passed her to get into the store.

"And you're a cunt." she heard the redhead reply.

Freddie and Emily went to a different part of the store while Effy trailed Naomi.

"So…when did you guys get together, then?" Effy asked, leaning on a refrigerator.

"What do you mean?" Naomi replied, lifting up a bottle of wine from a rack and grimacing at it. She put it down.

"You and Emily." the brunette elaborated.

"Oh…" Naomi walked sideways and grabbed a bottle of vodka. "We're not…_together_."

"It looked like you were." Effy appeared on the other side of Naomi now.

"I don't know. It's just…a silent agreement."

"Meaning?"

The blonde put the vodka back down a big too roughly.

"I don't know, okay? It doesn't really have to be called anything, it's just something that's going on."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"I just wanted to hear you admit it."

Naomi rolled her eyes and started walking in the direction she thought the other two went in.

They were located when Freddie came rushing down one of the shop's aisles looking a bit flustered. "Let's go." he commanded.

"What? Why? We haven't even bought anything." Naomi noticed that he was holding the bottom of his coat, which she found a bit strange.

"Just come on." he nudged her towards the exit.

When they were a few blocks away Freddie sighed in relief. "Shit, finally." he bent down and unzipped his jacket to reveal a magnum of vodka.

"Jesus Christ, Freddie!" Emily exclaimed.

Naomi just laughed at the fact that he'd sunk back into their old ways.

"Whatever, it's such a rip off." he defended.

"Indeed it is." Naomi agreed and clapped him on the back.

Emily grunted in annoyance, but not at the theft. She answered her phone, "Hello? Oh shit. I'm sorry, I forgot about you." she shifted between feet. "Don't get mad at me you do it to me all the time whenever we go somewhere." she looked down in concentration and blocked her other ear to hear over the street's traffic. "Okay, we'll be there in a few minutes." she hung up and looked at the group.

"We have to pick my sister up."

The other three groaned in response. Not at the fact that it was Katie, but at the fact that they now how to walk back in the direction they came from and even farther.

"Let's fucking go then."

* * *

**So originally, I was going to go out with a friend in the neighbourhood I imagined the present part of this story taking place in to get some flicks and videos of the park and just the general areas around it. But my friend that owns the loveliest camera decided to party the day before our plans and she got waaay wasted and was unable to accompany me. So now I must leave you with a link to a blog that has a post about NDG, where we were supposed to go. The best part of Montreal! I am from there. Don't live there anymore (Sadly. I fucking miss it.) But the park in this chapter is Girouard park and is indeed mentioned in this amazing blog post:**

http:/ /www**[dot]**mook-life**[dot]**com/ndg-part-1/

**(btw if any actually ends up reading that, you should totes read part two as well. If you can't find it on the blog, message me.)**

**and happy new year! here's a lame present: **http:/ /oi52**[dot]**tinypic**[dot]**com/2cyfne8**[dot]**jpg

**_Vangoghgurrl_, It certainly made sense lol. It'll be back up. maybe really different but still fucked up in a good way. BY THE WAY, I'm totally not blanking you with my art, I still actually haven't found my scanner. That stick person picture up there was taken with my webcam lol. I'm still looking for it cause I actually just really need it for other stuff as well. Thanks for yer reviewwww**

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, The skateboard will make more appearances. It must. I cannot resist. I have hit my head doing while rolling around on a skateboard like an idiot. You're lucky if you didn't loool. Thank you for your reviews like every time :D**

**Peace!**


	19. Katie the Boss Playa

**Heeeey! The title of this chapter is an inside joke, but you can all maybe pretty much agree with it's statement ;D**

**I know chapters have been a bit shorter lately, but hey, the huge thing they have planned is gonna be freakin' loooong. Sorry if this is boring! But I felt like I just couldn't directly jump into the plan thing. Hopefully it's not as dull as I think it is.  
**

**Big love to** thickfreakness** who gave me an unexpected shout. I've read your story since it's start a few months ago and was actually pretty stoked to find an update. An even more pleasant surprise was to find my story mentioned. Serious, _serious_ props for you. Thanks a lot.**

* * *

_Hearts beat frantically. Hands roamed aimlessly. Bodies pushed against each other for as much contact as possible. Shirts were pushed up, pants were pushed down. Personal space was penetrated dispassionately._

_Then it was all over in a matter of minutes and a hole the size of a crater on the moon was left in her chest._

_They emerged from the bathroom, patting down their mussed hair and straightening their clothing._

_She needed a cigarette. Locating Will, she flagged him down until he made it through the crowd._

_"Pass me a rigg." she demanded._

_"What have you been doing?" he squinted and looked her up and down while holding the cigarette just out of reach._

_"Just give me the fucking cigarette." she reached up to grab it._

_"Oh shit, don't tell me you just…" his eyes roamed the premises until they landed on a girl that Naomi had been talking to for most of the evening. "Eeeeww, Naomi! How could you?"_

_"Oh shut up!" her hand finally snatched the cigarette from Will._

_She could tell that brown eyes were burning away her skin. Feeling the heat from a distance, she moved in the opposite direction in search of her coat. The need to have the searing smoke burn the back of her throat and the dense fog engulf her lungs grew until it was unbearable._

_The pressure from the eyes increased on the back of her neck and she knew she only had a few seconds to escape. Escape, she did. She ran out the front door and unlocked Will's BMX that was chained to the fence. She rode until she couldn't feel the accusatory glare weighing heavily on her shoulders. Her legs stopped pumping when she reached the bleachers of the baseball field in the park near Will's house. Sitting down, she sparked the smoke and was thankful to get away from the suffocating party._

_Fucking some girl in Will's bathroom was not something she thought she would do. More so, fucking someone and not giving a shit and there being absolutely no real intimacy was not something she thought she'd do either. But the seemingly minor issue of Emily was decomposing in her brain and the rancid smog was pushing all coherent, rational thought from her mind._

_Sucking on the end of her cigarette like a baby sucking on it's bottle for sustenance, she continued to feel the self-loathing drifting in and out of focus in her mind. The cigarette, contrary to what she thought it would do, did not provide any source of comfort. It was thrown onto the ground in her frustration. Her foot came down onto it over and over until the little traces of tobacco weren't discernible under the dirt from her shoe and the snow._

_This girl that she hardly knew was pursuing her like nobody's business. So naturally, when Emily got too close last time they talked, Naomi chose to shut down completely. It wasn't completely deliberate. When Emily had moved in for a kiss, it was an immediate reaction - an impulse. To achieve what, exactly? Self-preservation? Control? She had moved away from the small girl so quickly that she had almost fallen off the branch of the tree they were seated on. Yes, they had been sitting in a tree. She couldn't properly remember how they'd gotten there, now that she thought about it. But anyway, point is, she knew she hadn't moved because she didn't want to reciprocate. God knows she did. Something just wouldn't let her. This little inkling of fear that had been present the moment she'd laid eyes on Emily and had continued leaking into her brain until it was filled and she had to just fucking get away. It was like the fear held a foreshadowing element, trying to stop her from throwing herself head first into something she didn't have complete control over._

_In all these flittering, repetitive, hectic thoughts she failed to hear the light footsteps approaching until it was too late. Her head snapped towards the noise and she reached for the bike, about to take off._

_"Don't you fucking dare." the deep voice threatened._

_She froze, unsure how to approach the blazing fire burning a path straight towards her. She was unable to meet it head on._

_"What is it?" it asked, coming ever closer. Emily was beyond pissed and Naomi would have been lying if she said she wasn't fucking terrified. If Emily's temper was anything like Katie's, then Naomi better fucking cause a downpour to calm it down._

_"Am I not good enough?" Emily spat._

_Naomi flinched at the harsh tone and finally turned to face the redhead._

_"Am I not pretty enough?" hurt permeated the outwardly aggressive tone._

_"I really don't understand. Am I too fucking stupid to properly read the signals you've been sending, 'cause fuck I really misinterpreted them, didn't I?"_

_Every question was like a bullet to the head for Naomi. The pressure she was feeling before? It was now overwhelming her brain. Her head and eyes began to ache and she wasn't entirely sure it was because of the hit of hash she'd taken from the bong at the party. Unable to think straight partly from the high hitting her full force between the eyes, she sunk to the gravel on the path. She held her head in her hands, but felt like it was swaying back and forth anyway. She tried to think of an appropriate response. There were none. Her hands moved to cover her ears in a useless attempt to stop the feeling of swelling in her head. She imagined that if she moved to get up right now her head would make her fall onto the floor like it was a bobble head. Laughter erupted from her throat._

_"Are you laughing?" the outraged voice broke through her haze._

_She felt her hands get wrenched away from her head and immediately, she completely forgot what she had been laughing about and remembered that she was being scolded when she was forced upwards to come face to face with Emily._

_"Will you stop acting like a fucking mindless twat?" Emily shook Naomi by the shoulders and the blonde sagged into her hold. Naomi faintly heard the redhead huff. She also heard another question emerge quietly from Emily's lips. "Why do you do this to yourself?"_

_Naomi tried to answer, but it just came out sounding like a baby's gurgle. She fell back onto the ground and curled up on her side._

_Someone was calling to Emily. The person approached and Naomi was aware enough to hear every word they were saying, even though it entered her ears sounding completely distorted and freaky._

_"How'd you know I was here?" Emily's voice penetrated the fog._

_"I saw you leave. What the fuck's wrong with her?"_

_It was Katie, Naomi was sure._

_"I think she took a hit of something, I vaguely remember seeing her."_

_"Vaguely my ass, you've been watching her like a hawk all night."_

_"Yeah well, someone has to."_

_"It shouldn't be you."_

_"I want to."_

_"Why, Emily? This is so fucked up, she's caused nothing but problems for you."_

_"She needs someone. I can feel it. I can help her-"_

_"You're delusional. Look at this."_

_Naomi felt something nudge her side._

_"She's fucking gone Emily. She probably won't even remember you following her out here."_

_"But…"_

_"We're leaving, come on."_

_"We can't just leave her here."_

_"We're not…someone's headed over here."_

_Naomi wanted to reach out and tell them not to leave, but she couldn't find the strength to move a muscle._

_"What are you guys doing?" Will's strong, commanding voice raced across the field towards Emily and Katie. It sounded frightening. She heard the sisters panic._

_"Shit fuck." Katie said, "Come on, Em."_

_Their footsteps faded quickly. One going much faster and confidently down the path while the second pair veered off uncertainly, sometimes pausing until the first pair would backtrack to force the second one to move._

_Naomi was moved into a sitting position by Will._

_"Did they do something to you, Nai?"_

_She was only able to shake her head._

_"We're gonna get you inside, okay?"_

_She nodded, eyelids drooping from exhaustion. Will put his arms around her shoulders to help her walk back towards his house._

_"Will?" she mumbled._

_"Yeah?" he replied, a smile in his voice._

_A sudden surge of desperation crept up into her conscious mind, "I love you. Don't ever leave." she begged._

_"I won't, Nai." he said resolutely, like nothing would ever be able to defy his words._

**ooo**

"Run! Go, you fucking slow fuck!" Naomi screamed as she watched Freddie dive for second base. There wasn't even a point in being so competitive. The opposing team, made up of Emily and Katie, weren't even on the field anymore. Katie had gone to sit on the side after the first pitch. Naomi could see Emily trying to pull Katie up by the arm to force her to play.

"Katie!" Naomi yelled.

"What?" the older twin replied, sounding more than a little annoyed.

"No one will want you if you sit around and get fat!"

At that, Katie shot up like a bullet and ran towards the blonde, "You bitch, I'm not fat!"

Naomi released a stupid sounding laugh and pranced away.

They were all well passed the drunk stage thanks to Freddie's five finger discount.

As they ran around, Naomi saw Effy drop the ball she'd caught after Freddie hit it. She ran to grab the tiny sphere and whipped it behind herself in an attempt to trip her pursuer. It just bounced right passed her.

Naomi stopped abruptly, Katie almost crashing into her.

"Freds?" she called.

He shouted an incoherent reply from the other side of the field.

"Let's go to Ricky's."

Freddie reached them after a few minutes, "Why?"

"What do you mean 'why?', to get the fucking paint."

"Oh right…right…okay."

Naomi and Freddie gathered the other three people like a tiny herd of sheep and they stumbled together along the dark road once again.

They entered a shop minutes later, talking loudly and not really noticing their disturbance in the still, soundless shop.

While Naomi waited at the counter for the owner, the other four went to explore the various products in the tiny building.

"'ey, little lion, is that really you?" A deep voice sounded from behind Naomi.

She turned to actually face the counter and was greeted by a man in his mid-fifties.

"It is!" she replied enthusiastically.

"The first time I see you in a while and you show up completely hammered."

Her only response was a lazy smile.

"A true writer if I've ever seen one." he smiled, "What can I get you?"

Her eyes shifted eagerly to the paint cans stacked by colour in square shelves on the wall behind him

She tried to sort through the colour spectrum in her mind, but she became too excited and she just ended up smiling blankly.

"Why don't you come back here and choose?"

She nodded and walked around the counter only to oscillate in indecision, unable to reach for a colour and stick with it because there were just _too many. _She wanted all of them.

"Okay," she said and shook her head, allowing her mouth to function to try and sort out what she wanted, "I think I'll just stick with the basics." she blinked heavily, her eyesight starting to make her see double.

"All right, here we go." She watched him pick out 6 colours: black, white, red, green, blue and yellow.

"Actually…can I get one of those backpacks too. I cant just walk out of here with these in my hand like an idiot."

"Sure." he stacked them in the bag. She pulled out her wallet to pay when he stopped her and said, "Don't even do that…" he pushed the wallet back towards her, "Now get the fuck out of here." he finished with a grin.

She bit her lip and smiled widely, eyes bright and playful as she grabbed the bag and slung it on her back.

The tiny bell on the door rang for the second time that evening as she exited the shop. She slid a pack of smokes out of her back pocket and lit up, waiting for the others to notice her absence inside the store.

A few minutes later she heard boisterous, animated farewells from inside the shop. The butt of her rigg landed on the floor as she smiled at their obvious intoxication. She turned just in time to see one person exit the shop. She craned her neck to look behind Emily in confusion.

"They're coming, don't worry." the redhead said as she stepped closer to Naomi.

"You looked sexy in there, choosing that paint."

Naomi laughed loudly in Emily's face, "That's disturbing, I wasn't doing anything."

"But you were like…in the zone. In that paint. You were rolling in it with your eyes."

"You're drunk."

"As are you."

"Well I clearly handle it a lot better than you."

The blonde stood her ground as Emily sauntered up to her with a goofy smile. The redhead wrapped her arms around Naomi's neck and began to sway. Not drunkenly, but in an attempt to make Naomi dance.

"What are you doing, Emily?"

"Mmm…nothing."

The redhead continued moving back and forth, but wasn't able to entice Naomi to move with her. The blonde just stared at her and smirked. Emily moved her hand up slightly to tangle it in Naomi's hair. Abruptly, she pulled Naomi's head down and kissed her hard.

Recovering from the initial shock of having her head yanked roughly into the smaller girl's face, she reciprocated fiercely. They stumbled backwards into the side of a car, equilibrium failing them as they tried to get as close as possible. Naomi broke the kiss to laugh, but Emily soon covered her mouth once again with her own. The redhead slipped her tongue into Naomi's mouth and earned a tug of her hips from the blonde.

"Jesus, fuck, what the hell is this?" They broke apart to find Katie covering her eyes with both hands.

"You can look now." Emily said a few moments later, still standing close to Naomi.

Katie narrowed her eyes and looked between the two, as if she couldn't comprehend exactly what she just saw.

Emily stared hard at her sister, as if challenging her.

Naomi began to move to the side discreetly to try and get away from the awkward situation, but she was held firmly in place by Emily's hand on her hip.

No one said a word. Freddie and Effy emerged from the shop with one can of black paint each and they caught on immediately to the tense atmosphere.

Without warning, Katie turned and began walking down the road. The four left behind looked at each other and eventually followed her lead.

"Was that bad?" Naomi whispered to Emily as she swung their joined hands back and forth.

"Don't worry about it."

Ahead of them, Effy turned to face them and walked backwards while saying, "Better watch your back, the beast has been unleashed." she smirked and turned back to her initial direction.

A few blocks later, Naomi had the inexplicable urge to leave a mark. She took her bag off her back and unzipped it to get the can of black paint out. Emily stopped to wait for her.

"I'm just gonna do something, okay?"

Emily nodded just as Freddie appeared beside them. "Are you doing throwies?"

"Tags." she replied shortly.

"Sweet, I'm in." he reached for his own can of paint in his plastic bag.

"We'll be back." Naomi said as she and Freddie walked away from the group.

They wandered into an alley, Freddie walking much further down to do his thing then Naomi.

She raised her can and slowly began doing the slim, curvy S. Her hand went faster as it back into an old and familiar rhythm. She stared at the hand style, concentrating hard. She screeched when Katie showed up beside her and tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Wow, a girl of the streets and you scream like a baby because of someone half your size."

"What do you want?" Naomi asked gruffly while putting the can back into her bag.

"I just wanted to know if you're still fucked up."

Naomi dropped her bag and turned to face Katie head on. "I'm not that person anymore."

"Sure, not outwardly…" Katie stepped closer to the blonde, "But even I can see the flicker of fear in your eyes when you're not paying attention. If I can see it, Emily definitely can. Don't forget that."

"I haven't gone yet, have I? If I was leaving, I would have done it before." the taller girl replied.

"Emily finally told me what you said to her the day after that fucked up party where you screwed some girl in the bathroom right in front of her."

Naomi ran her hand over her face ashamedly and sighed. "That was over two years ago. Why are you bringing that up?"

"Because it still applies. Just because a ton of time has passed, doesn't mean you still won't run off with your tail between your legs. You've dragged her through the mud enough already, yeah? Don't do it again."

With that, Katie turned and strutted out of the alleyway like a boss.

* * *

**_Vangoghgurrl_, lmaooo slamming someone's head into a table = flirting? lolol. finger painting is fuuunnnnn. I will find it! I WILL.**

**_Naoemms_, Ooooh well thank you ver' much :D**

**_lobstersforlife_, Hahaha well I am glaaad that the story sticks with you everywhere. Thanks for dropping in!**

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, I CAN'T WAIT TO WRITE THEIR PLAN. SEE THIS CAPS LOCK REPLY IS MY EXCITEMENT. Look forward to it, it's coming soon :)**

**_jaxi_, Ah well, I apologise for the even longer wait, then. It's so difficult to find some time to write. But I will try and be a bit quicker. Thanks for your review!**

**_HyperFitched_, Ey, don't apologise! Ah yeah Nai Nai is a freak, but as long as that thinking stops her from running awaaay. Thanks again.**

**_starsdieout_, I am incredibly happy at least someone checked the website and liked it, haha. Ah, I think there's no way that Montreal can compete with NYC though. Shit's ridiculously cool over there. **

**_lumagoo1015_, Well thanks for your four reviews! Gotta admit, I'm running out of steam with the flashbacks. It's getting so hard. Need inspirationnn. Well I'm glad you like and are now following it!**

**Massive thanks to people who favoured/alerted. Y'all in mah hart.**

**Tags can be nice if you take the time to come up with one that actually takes a pinch of effort. Except a lot of people just make it look like shit.**

**Handstyles **are basically those quick tags you see just about everywhere, wherever you are.

**Throwies **is short for throw ups.**  
**

**peace!**


	20. Chapter 20

**HEEEY, the first quick update in a while. wooo.**

**Also, I was thinking about the end of this story and I totally had this weird fit of anxiety over it. It was the weirdest thing.**

* * *

_"I don't think we should see each other." Naomi said quickly, wanting to get this conversation over with as soon as possible._

_"We weren't seeing each other in the first place." Emily countered, sounding weary and all too much like she had been expecting this suggestion._

_"No, I mean at all. Even as friends. We shouldn't see each other."_

_Naomi's voice was strong, a stark contrast to the to the frightened, sad version of herself she could hear in her head._

_"Why?"_

_"Don't question it, just know I'm doing you a favour."_

_The blonde sat with her back facing the redhead, too cowardly to face her and see the dampened version of the usually bright and happy girl._

_"It's not really a favour unless it's useful to the person it's for, is it?"_

_Naomi sighed in frustration, touching her thumb to the four other fingers of her hand in quick succession out of nerves. She turned her head sideways to feel a bit closer to Emily, but kept her eyes away from the redhead, not trusting them to not linger on her form clothed in garments she'd used to sleep off the horrible night before._

_"I'm sorry, though." the blonde continued, "About everything…everything I did…everything I'm doing."_

_"Then why don't you just stop?"_

_"It's not that simple…"_

_"But it is." Emily replied, lying down on her bed and staring up at her ceiling. There was a silence, where Naomi's brain filled in the blank by imagining Emily's face contorting into a frown of deep concentration as she thought about the situation._

_She felt movement coming from the other side of the mattress, but the blonde ignored the dip of the bed, thinking that Emily was just moving around the get more comfortable. She was wrong, she realised, when she felt a finger trace her spine from top to bottom though her shirt. The sensation rippled from her back to just about every other nerve and she stood up quickly, saving herself the embarrassment of falling into Emily's arms as a quivering mess._

_"I'm going to New York City." she spat out suddenly, unable to control the sentence that had been on the tip of her tongue since the moment she'd arrived._

_"What?" was Emily's dumbfounded reply._

_"I'm going to New York…" she repeated with her hand in her hair, twirling a strand around her finger to comfort herself, "For a job."_

_"You're seventeen, what kind of fucking job could they possibly have for you?" Emily was up now, standing behind her._

_Naomi breathed deeply, closing her eyes and stilling her fingers from actually pulling the hair from its root atop her head. "They just do." was her vague reply._

_The piercing sound of glass breaking into tiny shards was heard across the room. Naomi turned around to find Emily now sitting on the edge of the bed, behind her a shattered statuette of what previously had been a lady in a red dress._

_She knelt in front of Emily to get close, but not close enough to touch her._

_"Emily, you don't have to be mad. It's better for you…" she said, genuinely believing that it was indeed in the redhead's favour for her to leave. She felt the light sting of tears in the centre of her face, like when you try your hardest to hold them back but they come rushing anyway. She held them in, face burning, mind driving so fast it was probably burning skid marks into her scalp, but most of all she felt her heart combust into a light pile of ashes; easily blown away by the wind and easily disposed._

_"You can find someone that knows how to treat you well…" she began, her voice cracking, "…that can take you places and get what you want…" a sigh escaped her lips, "…that you can take home to your mum and can get along with your sister…" she was rambling now, listing all the things she felt she couldn't do. She was interrupted._

_"I don't care about most of that."_

_Naomi's voice came out stronger, putting emphasis on the fact that she was ignoring Emily's statement, "Someone that can hold you and touch you and kiss you and-" she choked back the tears now pushing their way up her throat, "love you without feeling like they're not allowed or that they need to get the fuck away every second."_

_She took in a shuddering breath, tears on the very tip of her tongue. A shadow came over her body when Emily knelt in front of her, blocking the light from the window behind them. Arms encircled her neck as the redhead pulled her in for a tight hug. Naomi wrapped her own arms around Emily's waist as tightly as she could without causing harm to the smaller girl. She couldn't tell if the frantic beating around her chest was coming from her own heart or Emily's. Then she realised it was probably a mix of both. They were pumping harder and harder, like they were trying to connect through their respective proctective layers of tissue, bone and clothing. Naomi's hands gripped Emily's back tighter now. The redhead then pulled both of their bodies down to lie side by side on the floor of her room._

_Naomi retracted her hands only to have them be pulled back by Emily, who held them and stared at them. It made Naomi think of that party where they'd been in the bathroom and she'd had to get that stupid cake cleaned off of her hand. She wanted to cry even more. Emily's head came to rest on her shoulder and she felt the redhead's tears follow a path of skin to slip under the neckline of her shirt._

_"Shit." she muttered before nudging Emily away. She held her at arm's length and said "Why the fuck are you hugging me? I did something terrible to you. You should be hitting me and yelling or something. Just not comforting me." Her brow furrowed in confusion._

_"I yelled at you last night and I wouldn't hit you anyway."_

_"You sounded too sad for that to be a proper screaming session."_

_"What do you want me to say, Naomi? You want me to uselessly shout degrading things at you? That won't make either of us feel any better. Besides, I know where this truly is." Emily touched two fingers to Naomi's chest, over her heart._

_"It's not with me, but it's not with anyone else either. It's with something else. I think you're passionate about whatever it is that you do and whatever job you were offered in New York. I don't think there's room for anything or anyone else in here yet. And I'm okay with that, but I don't want to stop seeing you. So whether you decide to leave or not, I'm still going to be here when you get back. Is that okay?"_

_Naomi stared hard at Emily. She couldn't find it in herself to disagree. Slowly, she nodded. After a minute or so of simply gazing at each other, Naomi pushed herself off of the bedroom floor. Emily stayed on the wood surface and watched the blonde pull her coat and hat on._

_Naomi stopped at the door and turned to face Emily one last time, "I really am sorry, Emily."_

_"I know."_

_She stepped out of the room and closed the door softly. Walking down the stairs and out the front door, she felt like a zombie._

_Truth was, she wasn't even sure she and Will were going to New York. They still had two months to choose whether they accepted the offer or not and they'd just recruited two new members - a couple from Chicago. She couldn't leave Emily without a good reason._

_A bitter laugh escaped from her throat. It felt like she and Emily were already an item and it was exactly what she had been running from._

_She just couldn't fucking stop it._

**ooo**

"Holy shit. Holy _shit_. This entire time I've been walking around wondering who the fuck infinity was and it was always you?" Naomi said to Effy, incredulously. The brunette just smirked.

Naomi stared at the simple mathematical symbol on the piece of paper that was the girl's tag.

Despite knowing the girl for nearly two years, she had actually ever seen her perform and she had never been able to convince her to display her tag.

The blonde sat back on her couch with her hands behind her head and looked at Effy, who was sitting on the floor, seriously "I need to get you drunk more often."

Effy raised her eyebrows and lifted the bottle of beer to her lips. She chugged it quickly before putting it down. Grabbing another one from the box before saying "You need to go back to college tomorrow. It's been like a week and a half since you've been. You're going to be really behind."

"Nah." Naomi sighed, "Emily's been bringing my work."

"Oh, has she now?" Effy replied and popped the cap off the bottle, "and have you thanked her for this noble deed?"

"I'll have you know, I did."

"So is that why we've barely heard from both of you all week? You've been holed up together in this nice, comfortable apartment, aaaall alone?"

Naomi rolled her eyes, "Mhm and absolutely nothing went on."

"Right."

There was a short silence, soon interrupted by the front door of the apartment being banged open and a ton of giggling.

"That'd be the other three with the pizza."

Both girls got up to go down the hallway and help with whatever the others had gotten.

When Emily came into view Naomi could see that she had fallen over. Katie had her own face pressed against the wall, unable to do much else because her laughing impeded all other movement.

"Naomi!" Emily exclaimed while lying on her back on the floor, "It has been so long!"

Naomi walked up to her to help her stand, "Em, it's been half an hour."

Emily threw her arms around the blonde's neck, "Well I missed you anyway."

"Oookay. Let's get some food into that stomach."

"But I love being drunk."

Naomi laughed at that statement and dragged Emily into the sitting room, pushing her onto a couch. The rest of the people followed closely behind. Freddie and Effy sat back down onto the floor while Naomi and Katie took seats on either side of Emily.

Beers were passed around more times than anyone could count and pizza was dropped onto the carpeted floor that Naomi dreaded having to clean up the next day. But they had fun. It had been too long since she sat around with her closest friends and just relaxed. It felt wonderful. Especially without the tension there usually was with Katie or Emily. Katie was no longer hovering over her and watching her every move which made her feel really good 'cause that meant that Katie had witnessed a change in Naomi that even the blonde wasn't completely aware of. And Emily, well…The only tension that was present was the one that became all too pleasantly unbearable as the redhead continued to stealthily run her hand up Naomi's side and everywhere else she could reach without Katie or the others noticing.

Naomi was totally fucking buzzed and smiling broadly while watching her friends make fun of each other. She felt an overwhelming fondness for them that she had to express.

"I fucking love you guys!" she slammed her hand flat onto the table.

She could feel her face flush from the alcohol and the embarrassment from just blurting that out. She was nudged from the side and looked to see Emily staring at her with her elbow resting on one knee and her head leaning on her hand. The redhead smiled lazily at Naomi and even through her foggy half-lidded eyes Naomi could see the adoration embedded in them. It gleamed brightly through the prominent haze of lust that was also present.

Naomi returned the smile brightly, because really, who wouldn't if they were being admired by the loveliest girl on the planet.

"You guys make me baaarf." Katie cut through their moment. "I don't understand how it took you so long to stop being an idiot." she blabbed. Naomi leaned forward and grabbed a piece of crust from the pizza that Effy had left behind.

"Shut up and eat yer fuckin' pizza" she said as she launched the crust in the direction of Katie's mouth. It ended up brushing her tongue as she had opened her mouth to retaliate with her words just as it came to fly past her face. She sputtered and spat, an all too over the top reaction to something so small and she picked up the fallen dough to reach over Emily and shove it down Naomi's shirt.

"Hey, hey, hey." Emily said with her eyes closed and hands lifting to separate the two feuding forces, "It is not the time to fight. It is time to come together as one to fight the forces of evil that plague the Kingdom of Hyrule. We must gather the three pieces of the triforce to-" she was interrupted by four bursts of laughter that sounded in unison as a reaction to her absurd speech. "Excuse me?" she continued drunkenly, "Ganondorf is not a joke."

Freddie leaned back and pressed the power button for the television. He flickered through the channels and powered up the game console on the floor near where Effy was seated. Having been at Naomi's solely to play games before he hardly even had to make an effort to remember where his hand had to be placed to turn everything on.

A few seconds later the familiar sound of hooves hitting a path was heard as the main screen of the game popped up. Emily immediately jumped off the couch to reach for a remote control. She selected the only saved file and they all waited in anticipation for it to load.

Link was standing in front of Ganon's castle.

"Wow." Emily said.

"What?" Katie asked, only half interested in the game.

"That's a really gay bridge."

They all looked at the screen as the character clad in green ran across a glowing rainbow bridge.

Freddie looked at Naomi, "Why is it still at this part, we got here months ago."

"I got annoyed because some stupid fucking blob stole my shield."

"You're such a fucking baby!" Freddie laughed, "You stop playing completely 'cause one bad thing happens."

"Whatever." Naomi stuck her nose up.

They watched with much more enthusiasm as Emily fought her way through all the annoying little obstacles before the boss. She finally reached the last really long staircase. The organ music got louder and louder with each step and Naomi remembered that as a kid this part totally freaked her out and her mum had to get past it for her. With bated breath they watched the protagonist climb a few more steps before Emily paused the game.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered to the other four.

What are you talking about? Keep fucking playing." Katie hushed in return.

"I didn't hear anything." Freddie added.

Effy stayed quiet and looked at Naomi. They narrowed their eyes at each other and strained their ears to hear a sound. Nothing came.

Emily pressed start on the controller and continued up the stairwell, only to pause the game again when the player was at the midpoint of the climb.

"No, seriously, you guys didn't hear that?"

Her paranoia began to spread amongst the group and Freddie scrunched his eyebrows, showing that he was trying to listen for a hint of what Emily was apparently picking up.

Naomi knew she was being stupid but she was genuinely getting scared. Effy, who was sitting there looking at all of them in amusement was the only one who was acting rationally. "You guys are being stupid…" she said.

Four harsh shushing noises were heard.

They gasped collectively when they were all sure that they'd just heard a door in the house creak.

No one was breathing.

Naomi swore she heard the sound of the creepy organ music from the game playing even though it was paused.

Another noise, this time the shifting of a floorboard, was heard.

They grabbed each other in fear as the noises became more frequent. At this point even Effy looked a little unsure. Her brow was now scrunched in concentration, trying to figure out what it was.

None of them moved or offered to go check it out. Their sitting circle tightened so they could feel more protected.

"Okay, this is stupid." Effy said, finally. She stood and began to walk towards the entrance of the living room. She was about to turn the corner when her stride was interrupted.

They all screamed simultaneously as something rounded the corner and made loud inhuman noises. Freddie knocked the pizza off the coffee table, Katie grabbed Emily and shoved her down onto the floor and Naomi just covered her eyes, as if that would save her from dying.

Suddenly, the sound of Effy's laughter broke through the frightening atmosphere.

Naomi uncovered her eyes and looked at the thing stood in the doorway. She closed her eyes in frustration and felt the others shift back into their sitting positions.

Her eyes shot open moments later and she stood up. Severe annoyance trickled into her tone as she exclaimed the one word that completely summed up the thing in front of them.

"Mum!"

* * *

**Gina's in da house, hollaaaaaa!**

**_Vangoghgurrl_, I don't fare any better when I'm an in art store. My friend freaked out a few days ago when I spent like 45 minutes just choosing a paint brush. Also, I walked past the locked up spray paint and ran my hand down the cage like a creepy bitch.**

**_Milch Getting_, Heeeey, thanks! :D**

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, Am I making you sad by putting the writing of the big plan off looololololollol I just feel like it'd be too fast to have it like after this chapter. So there's still a bit of waiting :P**

**_lumagoo1015_, kff is fucking boss. or beast. or any powerful word, really. Thanks for dropping yet another review!**

**_CrashKill_, HIII. Thank you and I'm glad you liked it!**

**_GOODMORNINGHEARTACHE_, Aw, thank you so much! Gah, another person that knows Montreal! For some reason I'm always under the impression that nobody knows about Montreal except for the people that live in it. So yeah super exciting that you like the city. Thanks again for your entire review, it is muuuch appreciated :)**

**_esdiferente_, loool. the pleading at the end, when I wrote it, actually made me pretty sad when I sat there and thought about it. then I was like "fuck it, it's staying." Thanks for dropping another review :D**

**_HyperFitched_, lololol Saint Emily even shatters a statue of a hot woman in this one. She must be really pissed. Anyway, yaaaay, thanks a lottt!**

**Peace.**


	21. Chapter 21

_She stumbled through her front door, trying her hardest to stay upright. She wanted back in her bed. She just wanted to sleep._

_Instead, she flailed and knocked a light off the wall of her hallway. The light bulb broke the second it hit the floor and she froze as efficiently as she could in her state. Her eyes searched the darkness for any movement from her mum, but there was none. Deeming it safe, she walked with heavy feet to the stairs that led to the second floor._

_She managed to climb two steps before falling forward on two hands to climb the rest of the way on all fours. Crawling past her mum's room to her own, she sat back on her knees and felt around her door for the knob. It took her more time than it usually did; her eyesight slightly fucked from her pupils being so dilated. She blinked to try and make it easier to see, but it was no use. A hand finally fell upon the cold steel and she twisted it then pushed the door opened._

_This time, she fell forward onto her stomach and somehow rolled herself into the room before kicking the door closed. She stayed on the floor for a few minutes, trying to sort her head, before lifting herself clumsily off the floor and onto her bed. She sighed into her duvet and didn't bother to clean herself up before she fell asleep._

**ooo**

_She was being shaken and the movement did not help soothe the headache she had. In fact, it made her feel like there was a huge marble rattling around her skull. She groaned angrily and as a response her mum said "Get up."_

_Naomi sat up straight away, not recognising the tone that was being used. Her mum hardly ever used well…the mum tone. The tone that oozed authority._

_The blonde squinted through the light in her room to see her mum clearly. The bed dipped as her mum took a seat at the end. Naomi glanced sideways and did a double take as she saw how disgusting she looked._

_She looked like she'd been run over by a truck. Three times. Maybe four._

_She heard her mum sigh and she brought her attention back onto her relative._

_"What did you do last night?"_

_Naomi blinked, the question confusing her slightly because she didn't really remember. "Uh…I…" she tried, but found she was at a loss for words. Nothing was coming back to her. Her shoulders slumped as this wasn't something new, but it disappointed her anyway._

_"Take a shower, then we're going to talk." Gina brushed some hair out of Naomi's face before rising off the bed and walking out the door._

_She spent most of the shower thinking. Not even washing, just staring blankly at the wall, trying to recover a little part of her memory. She sat down, back facing the shower head and she let it beat against the strained muscles._

_She looked down and caught sight of the scar on her inner thigh. The one made by the fence at the freight yard. Her fingers shot out to rub it. It hurt to touch it, not exactly physically. Well, it felt like it ached, but not from being ripped open. It was just sad. She followed the awkward zigzag and her thought process caused her brain to shoot a reaction of pain towards her upper leg. She hissed and pulled her hand away. Two seconds later her hand shot down onto her thigh to slap it, trying to feel if the pain from the scar was actually real. She was certain that the only hurt she felt was from the slap itself. A sigh escaped her lips when she realised that the irrational way of thinking she'd picked up in the past few months had let her to imagining a feeling that wasn't there._

_She leaned to the side and rested her head against the wall made of tiles. The cramped space provided a strange but familiar infantile comfort, almost like she was back in the womb._

_She stayed like that for the majority of her time in the shower. When she emerged she felt even more tired. The water didn't provide that cleansed feeling it usually did. This disappointed her even more._

_Her legs took her back to her room. This feeling crept up on her. Like she wasn't actually in her body, she was just watching herself going through the motions of getting dressed. The sweatpants weren't slipped onto her legs by her and her shirt didn't fall over her head because of her own arms. It was completely lifeless and she was just watching herself fall apart._

_She used to party because it was fun. Now she did it because it passed time more quickly than anything else._

_She didn't paint at all. That takes time and the use of her brain. These days she didn't let herself think very much. There was no desire left in her to mix her emotions up on a page. Plus, she was too afraid that it would result in an all too consuming, dark colour; a hue that would reflect how ugly she felt inside. Disgust was always present when she looked at herself in the mirror. But she kept looking, keeping eye contact with herself until the anger bubbled up so high that she just felt like smashing the glass into a million tiny pieces. After, she would cradle those pieces like they were her children. With all the love in the world and then she would devour each one of them and let them rip her up inside. Because that's what your children did. She was a disappointment to her mother. And Will was probably disappointed in her too._

_She just wanted to leave. It would be better for everyone she knew. All she did was cause problems._

_She wanted her friend back. She wanted Will. She wanted her old life back. Her old self._

_"Naomi?" she heard her bedroom door open slightly._

_She realised she'd been sobbing in front of her mirror for the past fifteen minutes._

_Her head was hung low as she felt her mum's arms envelop her to help her up. She was brought downstairs, where she took a seat in the kitchen. She finally looked up to come face to face with Effy, who was sat across from her at the table._

_"Hey." the brunette greeted._

_"Hi." Naomi rasped. "You…"_

_"I brought you home last night."_

_Naomi nodded and closed her eyes._

_"I came to see your mum this morning to let her know how you've really been doing. She had a clue anyway. But you know…"_

_The blonde's head bobbed a few more times in response. "I'm shit." she said, finally._

_"You're not shit. The world's shit."_

_Naomi smiled at that. She heard and felt her mum enter the kitchen again. She took the sit beside Naomi._

_After a few beats of silence, she began to speak. Her voice was low. Demanding. "You are not to go to anymore parties for the rest of the summer. If you do need to go somewhere, you tell me exactly where and I will drop you off and pick you up. Do you understand?"_

_Naomi didn't try to argue. If she was honest, she didn't really want to. Rules and structure were something missing in her life. She needed stability and her mother was now stepping in because she'd sensed her daughter needed a helping hand._

_"I will put in a word for you at the shop and you will earn some of the money to pay for the fines." Gina continued, waiting for an action from Naomi signalling that the blonde had heard._

_Naomi blinked slowly, letting the words really hit her and she realised that she still didn't have a problem with anything her mum was laying down. She nodded again._

_Gina stood, squeezed Naomi's shoulder and was out of the room again._

_"You look a bit better. You've been eating." Effy observed, her eyes raking over Naomi's body to see if there was anything wrong._

_The blonde stared at the table and let out an almost inaudible grunt as an answer to Effy's assessment._

_"Come on." Effy got up from her own chair and walked towards Naomi to take her hand, She led the blonde out of the house and down the street to a small, quiet park where they sat under a tree._

_The brunette looked directly into Naomi's eyes and started, "The other day I was with Freddie and we caught up with Emily and Katie…" she paused for the sentence to sink in. Naomi averted her gaze and looked down at the grass._

_"Emily still thinks you're in New York. Even Freddie didn't correct her. Is there a reason she still thinks that you've gone off to that fucking city while Pandora and Thomas are the ones that actually went?"_

_Naomi's eyes welled up as she twirled a blade to wrap tightly around her finger. The fragile little plant ripped easily and she flicked the bud away._

_"That's really fucked up. Like, really." Effy continued, "When she finds out the truth she's going to be fucking livid."_

_"No she won't. She doesn't even know me. She doesn't really care."_

_Effy clutched Naomi's wrist in her hand and squeezed it slightly to make the blonde look up at her._

_"Will you stop with this ridiculous self-pitying bullshit. You have a mum that loves you and I'm sitting right here. Not to mention the previous topic of conversation cares so much about you. God knows why, you're such a whiny bitch."_

_Naomi cracked a smile at the last remark, knowing it was true. "Shut up."_

_"I say we pay her a little visit."_

**ooo**

Gina removed the tribal mask from her face and let out a howl of laughter.

Naomi's face remained fixed into a scowl as she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for her mother's upheaval of laughter to calm down.

When the older woman ceased her chuckling, she stared at her daughter. "Well what the hell are you waiting for? Greet me properly!" she said as she grabbed Naomi by the shoulders and hugged her tightly.

The blonde reciprocated timidly, slightly embarrassed by the affection being shown in front of her friends.

"You look better. I'm proud of you." she heard her mum say into her ear. She nodded into Gina's shoulder.

Immediately after letting go of Naomi, Gina looked behind her and winked at Effy. The brunette nodded in return, confirming something no one else understood.

Freddie decided to pop in a moment later with an enthusiastic greeting.

Naomi turned to seek out Emily.

Katie was only just getting off the floor as Emily just completely shoved her to the side to get up.

"Fucking bitch." Katie muttered as she flopped onto the floor again, too lazy to try and get up.

Emily stealthily slipped her hand into Naomi's. The blonde smiled at her, thanking her for somehow knowing that she was feeling kind of exposed with her mother showing up while everyone was in the apartment. For Naomi, their hands connecting felt like a protective layer being thrown over her form, making her more confident and a bit less overwhelmed.

Naomi turned back to the group just in time to see her mum's eyes flit away from the two joined hands and back up to her face. She decided to just get this over with.

"Mum, this is Emily." she blurted and tugged Emily forward rather roughly.

Emily smiled sheepishly and stuck her other hand out to shake Gina's.

The older blonde shook Emily's hand vigorously and opened her mouth to say something before her daughter interrupted.

"So, who's staying the night?" Naomi said quickly, addressing the others.

A chorus of thinking noises emerged from the group as they tried hard to remember how they were getting home, or if they'd planned to go home at all. Effy was the first to answer.

"I'll bunk with Gina." her infamous smirk appeared on her face as she stared Naomi down. The blonde gave her a disgusted look and rolled her eyes.

"What? You're just going to have me go home alone?" Freddie piped up, a fake look of outrage on his face.

"Guess so." Effy grabbed a few of Gina's bags before sauntering off down the hallway.

"Well at least one of you knows how to treat your elders." Gina laughed, walking after Effy, "I'm going to bed, I'm exhausted. You all have fun. Naomi, I'll yell at you for the disgusting mess of a living room tomorrow. Good night."

Naomi felt her hand being dropped as she faced Katie, "I'm going to the bathroom." the older twin announced and also disappeared down the hallway.

Freddie bid goodbye to all of them and was out the front door.

When Naomi turned back towards Emily she found the girl leaning against the door frame, with one hand on her hip as an over the top attempt at looking sexy. Naomi laughed at her, "What the fuck are you doing?"

Emily stood up straight and scoffed, "God, you ruin everything, I was trying to seduce you!"

"You're doing a really bad job."

The redhead rolled her eyes and moved to stand toe to toe with Naomi, "What about now?"

"Cold. Really cold."

Emily's mouth twitched. She was holding in her laughter, Naomi knew it. The tiny girl put her hands on Naomi's hips. "Now?"

"Freezing." Naomi smirked.

Emily raised an eyebrow and slipped her hands under the hem of the shirt, stroking the curves of Naomi's hips. "And now?"

"Hmm, maybe a fraction less cold."

The redhead took a step forward and playfully pushed Naomi into the wall, hands still connected to soft skin. She leaned forward to brush her lips lightly over the blonde's own pair teasingly. Mouth hovering just out of reach, voice deep with purpose and with her body putting slight pressure on Naomi's form, she asked again, "What about now?"

There was no verbal response, just a rush of air that entered the blonde's mouth as a gasp. It was trapped in her throat as her breathing hitched. The flow resumed, this time a bit faster.

"That's what I thought." Emily smirked and dipped her head to sweep her tongue across the soft skin of Naomi's collarbone. The blonde arched her neck and bit her lip. Her hands came up to tangle with silky red locks. Emily's right hand reached higher under the shirt to allow her fingers to burn a trail right past the valley between Naomi's breasts. Her palm flattened itself against the blonde's chest, feeling the girl's heart beating rapidly.

"Have I always done this to you?" she breathed into Naomi's ear.

Naomi tried to comprehend the question but failed as Emily's lips finally latched onto her own. Her lips were soft and warm and had the power to slightly calm the frantic rhythm her entire body had fallen into. Even when the redhead's tongue slipped past her own lips, her excitement was expressed in the way her hands fell from Emily's hair and moved to stroke her neck in time with the flow of their kiss. She felt the hand on her chest began to move again and it pressed itself a bit harder against her skin.

The air around them seemed to be dense with heat and the feeling only increased when Emily moved her hand up to slip Naomi's bra strap off her shoulder. It moved lower again to nudge the cup out of the way so she could take the bare mound into her hand.

Naomi broke the kiss with a gasp and Emily just took Naomi's bottom lip into her mouth. She just continued kneading and biting and sucking.

Then she trailed a shaky line of kisses along Naomi's jaw and the blonde's hands were gripping at Emily's sides. The redhead rested her lips at Naomi's ear again and asked for the second time, "Have I always done this to you?"

The question finally seemed to click with Naomi and all she could do was breathe out "Yes."

The second time the word emerged from her lips, it was louder than she intended it to be.

They froze when they heard a door down the hall creak open and a voice emerge seconds later.

"Stop almost having sex in the goddamn hallway!" Effy's tired, sleep deprived voice shot from the bedroom.

Emily's hand was out of Naomi's top just in time for Katie to return from the bathroom.

They both looked like two deer caught in headlights. Nothing was able to slip past Katie.

"Gross!" she said as she walked past them and into the living room. "I had to like…just walk into your make out vapours." she picked up her bag and walked to the front door. "Are you coming, Em?"

Emily eyed Naomi then looked back at Katie.

"Shit, never mind." Katie said exasperatedly as she unlocked the door to leave.

"Bye Katie." Naomi said as the door closed.

"Fucking gay." was heard before the door completely blocked her voice from drifting into the apartment.

"Soooo…" Emily said while stepping slowly down the hallway. Naomi followed. "What?" she asked.

"Don't know." Emily replied, slinking into the blonde's room. She jumped onto the bed and stretched her tiny body out, covering as much space as possible so that Naomi couldn't get in comfortably.

"You better move your massive ass out of my space." Naomi said as she moved around the room, clearing things just to keep herself busy.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll throw you off myself."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"I'd like to see you try."

Naomi stopped moving and swiftly grabbed Emily's ankles to drag her off the bed. She managed to get her legs off but Emily was holding onto the duvet covered mattress for dear life.

"Noooooo!" Emily shouted as she dragged the comforter off the bed with herself. She flailed her legs and kicked Naomi in the face, then she quickly crawled back up the bed to sit near the pillows.

She tried to apologise through her laughter, but failed because she could hardly breathe.

"You're such an asswipe." Naomi said as she clutched her jaw and moved around to the other side of the bed.

"I'm sorry!" Emily managed to squeeze out through her wheezing.

Naomi turned the light off and climbed into bed, pulling the covers over her face to sulk.

Emily pulled the comforter back down and planted a quick kiss on Naomi's cheek. "I'm sorry."

As much as Naomi tried, she couldn't fight the smile that broke out at the redhead's affection.

"I'm sorry." Emily said again, this time pressing a kiss to her temple. Emily wrapped her arms around Naomi, effectively spooning her. Some minutes passed and Emily spoke, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Naomi answered, her eyes closed. She felt Emily's breath on the back of her neck.

"Were you really going to up and leave for New York if you had the chance?"

Naomi thought about her answer carefully, finally deciding that the truth was the most important thing at this point. She turned to face Emily.

"Emily, you have to understand that I wasn't in a good place…"

"I know…" the redhead replied, stroking the blonde's cheek with her thumb.

"I thought that getting away was what I needed."

"Getting away from me."

"Partly, but not entirely. When Will was alive, most of the uncertainty in my mind surrounding you had to do with the anxiety of completely giving yourself to someone and allowing them to see you at your most vulnerable. Handing over control. But that seemed trivial after Will died. He was my other half. We were supposed to go together to New York. I was going to go anyway, on my own. It felt like my chance to run away. To take some form of control and order back. Not to mention if I left everyone, then they wouldn't be able to leave me first. That's only the surface of everything that went on…I was depressed and a bunch of other things. I don't really want to get into it…"

"It's okay." Emily moved closed and touched the tip of her nose to Naomi's. "I'll just keep learning all the things I wasn't meant to learn before." her eyes fluttered closed. "Because now there's room."

"What?"

"In here." Emily raised her hand to Naomi's heart like she did over a year ago. "I think I can fit now." she smiled widely, dazing Naomi momentarily even in the dark.

"Me too."

**

* * *

**

**No weird, rambly paragraph at the beginning? I'm just really tired lol.**

**_RiseRebelResist_, Hahahah I've had a Zelda reference floating around since the beginning. Lake Hylia = Hylian = my pen name. Gah, nerd! and thank you so much!**

**_Vangoghgurrl_, loool you never fail to make me chuckle. Forgive me for this last ass update. Thought it should also bring on the the warm and fuzzy feelins. **

**_CrashKill_, Aw thanks! and it's my pleasure to bring you an update :D**

**_lumagoo1015_, I've had that tag in my head for Effy since the beginningggg. I want to make her put it to use when they carry out their plan ;) haha. Thanks for your review.**

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, hahahaha I'll take that as a very good reaction to Gina's entrance. Fook, group paranoia is so embarrassing. It's happened to me SO many times and I don't really get scared easily but you know when people are like GAHBSUDBH THERES A MONSTER! it just makes you scared. lol. and yay more love for Emily!**

**_Naoemms_, OCARINA OF TIME, SUCKA. BEST GAME EVAAAAR. anyway yeah, most of all thanks for your review loool**

**and thanks to inside im dancing for the shout. THANK YOU. YEAH!**

**also guys, I am terrible at being in school. Help me out? .  
**

**Peace!  
**


	22. Chapter 22

**Forgive me, lovers, for I have sinned. It has been a week and a half since I've updated and that is totally shitty. Amen.**

**Oh and why does this site make lyrics so spaced out and ugly? Piss me off.**

* * *

_**Nai, **_

_**Just relax, fall back on your genetic design **_

_**Let it unwind **_

_**Learn to feel its breath on your spine.**_

_She clutched Will's note in her hand. Her only lifeline. The only item that was giving her the courage to step up to her mistakes. Even with Effy keeping a steady stride before her, she felt she needed a bit more support._

_After Effy had suggested going to Emily's house, Naomi had made them go back to hers first to grab a handful of paper from a shoe box that had been stuffed under her bed._

_They were all these little notes she and Will used to leave each other in their shared locker in high school. They were usually quotes from songs. Sometimes they were funny and sometimes serious. At some points, Will would even leave one when Naomi was having trouble getting out of her head. The one she held in her hand was a perfect example and it's exactly why she'd chosen to take it with her._

_But she still had both of her back pockets stuffed with other ones as well._

_She was staring at the short rhyme so hard that she bumped into Effy._

_Naomi looked up to see why she had stopped and she sucked in a breath when she followed Effy's gaze to the house beside them._

_"Come on. Suck it up. Go." Effy lightly pushed the blonde up the path to the front door._

_Nerves forced Naomi's hand to quake uncontrollably. She felt she was hardly able to lift it without it convulsing from the amount of energy she would have to run through it to knock on the door._

_Finally, after another verbal shove from Effy, she lifted her hand and quickly banged on the door three times. The sound felt hollow and all too short. It's staccato vibration hardly flowing through the air long enough for her to gather her bearings before it opened._

_Emily stood before her with her hair tied back, wearing safety glasses. Naomi's eyes widened and travelled down her form to try and figure out what she would need that protection for. She found that Emily was also wearing an apron covered in dust and debris from fuck knows what._

_Naomi was unable to reflect any longer when Emily's arms enveloped her tightly. She had no choice but to encircle the smaller girl's frame in return._

_"You're back early?" Naomi heard against her ear. She let go of Emily and stepped back._

_Before speaking, she turned to wave Effy away but found she was already gone. She shrugged and turned back to Emily._

_"Actually, I need to talk to you. Can we go inside?"_

_Emily nodded and walked in, leaving the door opened for Naomi to follow. She brought them down a flight of stairs that led to the garage._

_The redhead walked to a table and started cleaning some stuff off of it. Stray pieces of wood and tools were just thrown onto the floor. She lifted her glasses onto her head and checked the table saw before turning to Naomi._

_The blonde studied her. Emily looked a bit older, but all the more beautiful. It's funny the difference it can make when you don't see someone for a few months and then you return to find that they aren't exactly the same as when you left them._

_"What are you working on?"_

_"Oh…" Emily waved her hand towards the table dismissively, "Just something for my woodworking course."_

_"I thought you were in nursing?"_

_"I am. But you know you can take other courses if you want to."_

_"Right…"_

_Naomi looked around at the large pieces of wood._

_"Is there any specific reason you wanted to talk?" Emily pushed, sounding slightly annoyed. Probably because the blonde made no sign that indicated that she was going to start speaking._

_Emily settled the protective shield back onto her eyes and turned towards the work surface. She ran her hand over the table saw and was about to work it when Naomi opened her mouth, "I just wanted to…come clean about something."_

_The redhead's hand froze over the power button before it altered its direction and went for the manual saw that was located in a large tool box under the table. She began sawing into a slim plank of wood._

_"I never went to New York."_

_Naomi saw Emily's flow falter slightly before resuming a bit more roughly._

_"I mean…I was going to go. I didn't purposely lie to you…" she stepped a bit closer to Emily to make sure the redhead was listening through the distracting noise of the wood being split in two._

_"Something came up and I couldn't really go but…I didn't tell you because I felt like I still needed some time away."_

_There was a minute of silence where Emily's back and forth motion became a bit more erratic. Eventually, she spoke, "You. Make. Me. So. Mad." she punctuated each ending by sliding her tool harshly through the thin chunk of timber. "You couldn't just tell me that you needed time away? I would have left you alone. I've done it before."_

_Naomi thought back to when she'd run out of this exact house all those months ago, after she'd been attacked in that alley._

_"Well…I mean if I'd gone away then it would have resulted in not seeing each other for the same amount of time…" she tried to gloss over the real issue._

_"That's not the point!" Emily withdrew the saw from the wood and bent down to pick up a drill. She also reached for a stray nail on the way up._

_When her body was straightened she placed the tip of the nail to the plank and raised the drill to twist it. "You told me that you were going to start being honest, but you just keep lying over and over again." She pressed the trigger and the grating sound penetrated the tense, momentary pause of their conversation._

_"I didn't lie, I just…neglected to tell you."_

_"Oh!" Emily threw her hands up, "That's much better!" the drill flew through the air along with her hand and made Naomi flinch out of fear for it being thrown in her direction by the upset girl._

_"I'm so tired of your fucking excuses."_

_Emily bent down again to rummage through a case of hammers, giving Naomi time to reach into her back pocket and pull a random note out._

_**It's tricky to rock a rhyme, to rock a rhyme that's right on time**_

_**IT'S TRICKY**_

_Naomi snorted at the unhelpful lines and stealthily shoved the paper back into her pocket to pull another out, secretly thankful that Emily hadn't heard her little inappropriate outburst._

_**Sunset never seemed so long**_

_**Five and the sky's still going strong**_

_**Jewel and the crown keep holding on**_

_**Never let go until it's all gone.**_

_She took a deep breath and rubbed her thumb across the words while her hand fell back to her side with the message. Her eyes came to focus on Emily's pair as the redhead's eyes squinted at the paper in her hand._

_"What is that? You can't even speak directly to me, you have to write what you want to say down so you can think about it first?"_

_"Actually," Naomi started, her tone indignant, "It's a little encouragement for me to say what I actually want to say. So would you please put those fucking tools down, shut the fuck up and listen to me?"_

_Emily huffed, like it was a chore to obey Naomi in any way, but she placed the tools carefully onto the work table and faced Naomi head on._

_"Look, I know not telling you was stupid and that I shouldn't have ignored it. But if I had told you, it would have been even more difficult to stay away. For both of us. It was something that had to be done. Plus, I'm here right now, aren't I? I'm telling you because you deserve to know and I'm standing right in front of you because I finally feel ready to be your friend." Naomi still felt like she was jumping in too quickly. It was only that same morning that her mum banned her from doing anything, right? Surely she couldn't be ready for anything as big as letting Emily in. Even though she had been in a strange state not three hours ago, she felt ready to take on anything. This fear was the first thing she was crossing off of her list._

_"Friend? You want to be my friend?"_

_Naomi looked her in the eye and answered "Yes."_

_Her lips curled up at the edges in an almost unnoticeable, tiny smile. Emily looked so small and vulnerable while asking that question, she couldn't help it._

_The redhead took a step closer while her demeanour transitioned to a more positive in a nanosecond. "Okay." was all she said. Her facial expression said a lot more._

_It was then, possibly, that Naomi fell even harder. Because Emily was just so innocent and genuinely happy that Naomi couldn't stop looking. She'd done that. It was her. She'd made Emily happy for once in the year she'd known her. Fuck, she felt like dancing. Or doing something, anything really, to demonstrate the elated feeling that was flowing through every part of her body._

_Her head swung around to look for something to express her excitement with._

_A pair of eyes landed on some boring white tub paint while another pair watched on slightly confused, but interested._

_Naomi lunged for the paint and fought to get the top off as quickly ass possible. Now on her knees, she crawled around until she could reach the only paint brush in the garage. It was a shitty one, dusty as fuck, but it would have to do. She stood and pointed at a large piece of wood, about 3 feet wide and four feet long. "Can I just do something to that?" Emily shrugged, probably only interested in getting to see what the hell the blonde was doing._

_Naomi ran towards the piece of wood and dipped the brush into the tub only to bring it out seconds later to write one simple word on the wood: YES._

_"That's what all this scrambling around was for? To write "yes"?"_

_Naomi smiled widely and nodded her head enthusiastically, "Mhm!"_

_Emily released a grunt of playful exasperation before looking sideways at Naomi, "So…we're friends now?"_

_"Yup."_

_"Am I still allowed to think that you're sexy?"_

_Naomi rolled her eyes and lifted the brush to Emily's face to leave a trail of white paint on her cheek._

**ooo**

She felt her body coming back to life slowly. A soft pounding was felt on her abdomen. Annoying. She scrunched her eyebrows, mind completely aware of the irritating pattern, but body doing nothing to stop it. A new beat made its way into her ears. Her hands reached up slowly to cup her ears so she wouldn't hear the noise. It only got louder.

Her eyes finally shot open and she roared "Fuck, just shut up!" both patterns stopped momentarily before resuming in an even more insane manner.

Emily was whacking her stomach and for every down stroke she said "Nai."

Naomi's hands dropped to her side, laying limply on the bed as she stared past Emily's head at the ceiling above while the girl on top of her continued drumming.

"Nai, Nai, Nai, Nai…"

"What?" The blonde asked, still not gracing Emily with any eye contact.

"We have to go to college."

Naomi closed her eyes and sighed. She was really not in the mood to get up off of her ass and get ready to go back to those boring courses.

"I know." she breathed out.

She opened her eyes when she felt something tickling her face.

Emily's face was now hovering over her own. Her smile was radiant and her hair was glowing from the sliver of sunlight that crept through the curtains of the window. Naomi lifted her hand to twirl the illuminated strand around her finger, the light now engulfing her index finger as well. She ran the texture over the pads of her fingers, loving the silky softness of Emily's hair. She pursed her lips in thought and turned her head to glance at the window.

Sitting up slowly, she kissed Emily's lips softly before pulling away and whispering, "Want to see something cool?"

She felt like a kid, saying that sentence, but she couldn't help it. What she was about to show Emily brought a sense of excitement she couldn't explain.

So, she took the redhead's hand in her own and led her around the bed to the window. She leaned over her dresser and brushed the curtains away. The cold air could already be felt seeping through the tiny cracks and she held her hand over a slim aperture feel the flow of the frigid breeze. She then reached for the dresser and pulled it to the side with Emily's help. The window was revealed to be a door. Naomi's fingers reached for the door knob and she pulled as hard as she could. The winter's icy abuse had sealed the door shut somewhat. After a few more hard yanks, it finally blew open. Naomi heard Emily squeal as a gust of wind rushed into heated home.

Naomi walked out and gestured for Emily to follow. When she was stood outside she reached out for the redhead again, holding her hand as they turned quickly to face the neighbourhood before them.

They were stood on one of the apartment's many balconies. waiting for the sun to completely spill over the edge.

"Okay just keep your eyes a bit to the right. You see where that building is kind of a bit higher than all the others?"

Emily nodded.

"Keep your eyes on that."

The blonde tapped her foot with anticipation and impatience at the same time, eager for the light to reveal what she wanted Emily to see.

When it managed to crawl over the wall, it reflected off something brightly on the tall building. They waited together for the glare from that direction to dissipate. The tops of the houses were flooded with sunshine and in the distance two fluorescent silver tags were revealed on the building. They were connected by a knot and on top of the tags sat a giant crown as if to say that they were the king and queen of the city.

Naomi smiled widely as she took it in. It had been a while since she'd had the chance to wait for the tag to become visible in the morning. It was fucking exhilarating.

"We were fooling around when we added the crown." she said suddenly, "We didn't actually think we owned the city or the graf game here…it was added to tell the other writers with big ass egos to piss off." she laughed at the memory, "and see it must have worked, no one's tried to buff or cap it and people haven't gone near that spot since."

She looked at Emily and caught her smiling at it too. Emily turned to face her and said, "It looks fucking incredible and I can't wait to see what you've got."

"Oh really?" Naomi arched her eyebrow.

"Yes." Emily flicked some hair over her shoulder and walked back into the apartment. Naomi followed her and barred the door shut. She didn't bother moving the dresser back to its usual spot because she would probably be waiting for that tag to come to life every day this week. She shuffled around her room, too lazy to actually do something productive.

"Lazy bitch, go take a shower or something." said Emily as she rifled through Naomi's drawers.

"Excuse me, who told you to go through my stuff?"

"Well I need something to wear to college. I don't want to go there looking like I just crawled out of a meth lab."

"Okay wow, that was a bit of a stretch, no?"

Emily smirked and shrugged her shoulders as she pulled out a pair of sweats that had been squashed underneath all the other clothes. They were longer than her tiny legs, but she looked satisfied.

"You're really going to wear those?"

"Well you haven't got anything else."

Naomi just laughed at the length and grabbed a t-shirt to chuck into Emily's grasp.

Emily walked out of the room and Naomi assumed that she went to find the bathroom to freshen up. Naomi made her way to the kitchen, where she heard her mum and Effy chattering.

"Well good morning to you!" Gina greeted her happily.

Naomi scowled at her mum's good mood as she reached for the kettle and a mug.

"I'm home for not even a day and you're already dismissing me with one of those looks. Glad to see that hasn't changed."

The blonde grunted in response.

"Be polite to your mum, Naomi." Effy smirked and Naomi flipped her the bird.

The blonde sat at the table and it struck her that they were seated in the same chairs they had been when her mum had set her straight all those months ago.

Emily walked into the kitchen and shook Gina's hand again. Naomi didn't pay attention to what was being said, she was too busy watching them interact. Emily then moved around the kitchen, making herself whatever the fuck she wanted and Gina just watched her fondly. Naomi bit her lip at her mum's expression, finding it odd that she already looked like she wanted to kidnap Emily and force her to be a permanent part of the family. Emily finally took the seat closest to Naomi at the table that fit exactly the four of them.

She stirred her coffee and studied her mum. Okay, so she'd missed her mum and was actually ecstatic that she was back from gallivanting across fuck knows where.

"Naomi, what time does your class start?" she was snapped out of her musings by her mum.

"Ten." she answered curtly and took a sip from her mug.

"It's already nine."

"Leaving now." she chugged the rest of the liquid and shot up from the table. She threw on her jeans haphazardly and was about to throw on her shirt, but her progress was frozen when Emily came into view.

She was standing by the door, being blatantly obvious about ogling.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough." Emily gave her a cheeky smile and reached out to run her hand over skin.

Naomi watched the hand creep from her shoulder and down her arm to grip her side firmly. She was pulled into a tight embrace. She probably would have enjoyed it more if she wasn't acutely aware that she still hadn't lifted the shirt she was holding over her head.

"Em?"

"Hm?"

"Can we continued hugging after I've put my shirt on?"

Emily pulled away and gave her a look of incredulity, "There's a reason I chose to approach you at this exact moment. I quite like you like this."

"This is entirely unfair."

"Oh?"

"The rule book states that both parties should be in equal states of undress."

"Is that so?"

Naomi nodded her head vigorously. Emily took a step back, "And since when have I ever played by the rules?" she cocked her head to one side and grinned.

Naomi huffed and shoved her shirt on, "Fine." she said, fighting back her smile as she pushed past Emily and headed for the main door.

**ooo**

College was a fucking nightmare. The almost two weeks away had rendered her unable to sit still without fidgeting or wanting to stand up and run around like a fucking lunatic.

When the teacher dismissed the students, she threw her bag over her shoulder and practically ran out of the room. She made her way down the corridor, huffing loudly when people were too self absorbed to realise that they were holding a whole line of people up by walking too slow. Her feet stepped eagerly onto the escalator as it steadily shifted upwards to bring her closer to the class that Emily was seated in.

Naomi turned down an almost hidden hallway and looked into every room she passed until she reached the right number. She slowed her pace and peeked into the tiny glass window as she strolled past. Catching a glimpse of bright red hair, she smiled to herself and waited out of view from the students in the class.

The door opened minutes later and students bustled about, trying to get the fuck out as quickly as possible. She silently saluted the ones who got out first, because she could relate to them. Finally, one of the last ones to emerge was Emily. Freddie followed closely behind her.

Naomi smirked when Emily spotted her across the hall. The three met halfway and Freddie unceremoniously asked, "You got any kush?"

Naomi raised her eyebrow in alarm, "Why are you asking me? I usually get it off of you."

"The dude I usually buy from had to disconnect his phone for a while until he gets a new one 'cause he was getting' tailed. He's gonna contact me when he's hooked up. I trust your judgement on quality, so I'm askin' you." His smile was charming.

"You're fucking hopeless, Freds." Naomi smiled and shook her head as she dug into her pack to find the small plastic bag. She threw it at him and laughed as he struggle not to drop it before securing his hold on it.

"Thanks Nai, you're a fucking life saver."

"And you're a the biggest stoner ever."

"Living up to my name is what I do." and he skipped happily down the hallway.

"Soooo…" Naomi said as she turned to face Emily.

"Want to go for lunch?" Emily finished for her.

"I do, actually. But can we stop off somewhere first?"

"Sure."

They made their way out of the school and walked along the busiest downtown street to reach the bus. It came in five minutes and dropped them right in front of the graveyard.

"What are we doing here?" Emily asked as they made their way past all the tombstones.

"I just wanted to visit Will."

Emily smiled and followed Naomi over the tiny hills.

Emily knew they'd reached the row where Will was buried because Naomi's pace slowed considerably and her eyes held a sort of distance in them, like she was fighting with herself.

When the blonde looked back at Emily the uncertainty was gone and was replaced by a more inviting look.

Naomi nudged Emily in front of her and stared down at the stone. Someone had left something behind. A paper with a ribbon was leaning against the rock and some acorns were scattered accordingly around the grave. Naomi picked one up and turned it around in her palm, noting the letters STNR written across four separate nuts.

She smiled, a twinkle in her eyes and she muttered, "Freddie…" She rearranged the acorns back into their previous positions. "Only he would still have acorns that he collected in the summer. Strange guy." she commented. Emily laughed.

The blonde then reached for the damp paper, wet from the bits of snow that occasionally flew past the grave and stuck to it. She pulled the ribbon and unfolded the paper to find a neat little spliff being held lovingly in a pouch. "Hah." Naomi smiled as she put the stick behind her ear to hold it there while her hands fiddled with the ribbon. "Freds probably knew I'd come here, little bugger. Knows me more than I give him credit for…anyway.."

As she paused in her speech as Emily knelt beside her.

"Will…" The blonde said, wrapping one arm around Emily, "This is Emily." She smiled at the stone, as if Will was standing there and listening to her. Emily got the impression that she did this quite often.

"She's that lovely girl you saw in the park all them years ago when we went to that party on Nuns' Island. You would have loved to meet her…Actually, what am I saying?" she smacked herself in the forehead, "You're meeting her right now." she smiled privately, "She's absolutely lovely and as you can probably see, she's also really fucking gorgeous." she hugged Emily a little bit closer. "So, I came here to introduce her to you and to tell you that I'm going to be painting again. Only for you. In your honour. I know your ego is probably overflowing right now, knowing that our old crew and people that we both knew are going to be painting your stupid sounding tag all over the city. But hey, I think you're allowed, I mean, you can totally fucking fly now anyway, right?"

She was rambling now and Emily watched her smile and make facial expressions with complete ease and with absolutely no barrier between her and the world.

"Remember those notes we used to write to each other, Will?" there was a pause where Naomi imagined Will answering, "Well I have one last one, from me to you. And you better fucking remember where it's from or I'll kick your ass, you bitch."

With that, Naomi opened her bag and pulled out a piece of paper. It was laminated and there were little doodles all in the margins and Emily could make out Spunk and Nix mixed within all the random letters.

Naomi pulled out a roll of duct tape and made a border around the sheet before sticking it right onto the rock.

**When I was young, I was wild**

**Life, took it for granted**

**Nights, living outlandish**

**Christ, hoped he could stand it**

**Now I do right wherever I can manage**

**The devil was eating me alive, but I climbed out of that sandwich**

**Now possibly on the verge of having everything vanish**

**Feeling as if I didn't do anything as I planned it**

**Like I was trying to live my life right, but somebody panned it,**

**But I still had love when down helping hands lifted me up**

**Out of the mud, out of the muck and out of the dark and attitude when I didn't give a fuck**

**From them days in the park alone, drinking gin by the cup**

**Through an exitless maze, wandering and constantly stuck**

**The blessings were always there, I just chose to ignore them**

**Shit started getting sweeter when I learned to explore them**

**Wasn't selfish with them, trying to stretch and contort them**

**and didn't let the world get to them first and distort them**

**so as I kick back and ponder on Armageddon**

**and I spit raps about where my life could've been headin'**

**I admit that I do have a wonderful life**

**so if this night was my last, I'll be doin' alright.**

**I'll be doin' okay.**

Naomi stared at the sheet and smiled softly. Turning to look at Emily, she planted a soft kiss on the redhead's cheek and stood up.

A few steps were taken in the opposite direction of the stone until she turned around, "Peace, Will. I'll be coming around more often and we'll share a joint, deal?" she nodded her head towards Will's resting place before playfully shoving Emily off the path and causing her to lose her footing.

* * *

**Next few chapters will be a really good fucking ride. Well hopefully at least. They'll have most of what people have been anticipating...lol aaaanyway**

**First note is a song called Graph Paper by a dude that goes by Algorhythms. **

**Second, a very popular one and you all have probably heard it. It's Tricky by Run DMC.**

**Third is Crown Jewel by Brother Ali. Seriously this song is groovy as FUCK. Go look for it. Do it now. Plus, one of the only rappers I've heard that attacks homophobia instead of littering a song with homophobic slurs. But that's in a song called Tight Rope.**

**and fourth is Doin' Alright by...wait for it...CunninLynguists. Oh, clever. But really. Really good everything for that collective.**

**_Vangoghgurrl_, Poor dead matrix. Not like I helped at all, lol. Gettin' it soon is confirmed.**

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, People never grope at a good time! Hahahaha, Emilyyyyyy, that cute little fucker.**

**_lobstersforlife_, Ey, thanks for another review. Peace out mayne.**

**_jdro,_ Aw, that's really nice :) thanks you for your lovelyyyy compliment. **

**_lumagoo1015_, Yeaaah, I was like lol i can't have Katie always getting scarred, let's make it someone else. lolol.  
**

**Peace. Hope you're all...DOIN' ALRIGHT. EEEEEY. k. I need sleep.**


	23. Chapter 23

_To say things were tense was an understatement. She'd come into this course today knowing full well that Emily had taken it too. What she didn't expect was for Emily to spot and beeline for the seat beside her before anyone else could have the chance to take it. They say mere inches from each other and Naomi felt like if she moved she would touch Emily by accident. And any contact was bad. So she sat as still as a statue, Emily's vivacious attempts at getting closer shot down by her stone stillness. Naomi did not want Emily stirring up a breeze. Spine straight, hands flat in front of her on the desk, she tried to listen intently._

_Being in school again after the weird whirlwind year she'd had was strange._

_This was the first class of her first semester. She was aware that Emily was a semester ahead of her, which is why she found it strange that Emily would choose to take a first level drawing course when she could have taken a second level woodworking course. Naomi sighed and wondered why she was even pondering the reason the redhead took the course with her. Emily just did things. She didn't ask._

_They listened to the teacher drone on about tones and Naomi almost fell asleep. Catching her head drooping right before it hit the desk, ruining her cold demeanour. She rested her cheek on the table and closed her eyes, thinking she'd only have them closed for a short amount of time._

_She awoke to Emily's face inches from hers, mirroring her position. The redhead's hand running itself through her own blonde locks that had fallen over the cheek that wasn't squished against the desk._

_Blue eyes darted around in alarm to find that no one was in the room except for them. "Where is everyone?" she whispered, even though there was no one else to listen._

_"Class ended half an hour ago." Emily replied, lightly tugging a lock of hair. "there's still another half hour before another class piles in…which means we have about fifteen minutes before the early people start coming." she continued playing with Naomi's hair, getting the most out of the blonde's half asleep state to get as close as possible before she realised._

_"Why didn't you wake me?" Naomi drawled as she closed her eyes again._

_Emily moved her hand to one of Naomi's closed eyes and lightly ran her finger tip over the tip of her eyelashes, watching the blonde's eye twitch in annoyance. Just watching her movement, even the slightest one. Reminding her that Naomi was alive and responsive to her efforts. "You've looked so tired lately…I didn't want to wake you if this was the only chance to sleep that you've gotten today."_

_Naomi opened her eyes and stared at Emily's finger. It retreated as Emily tucked her hand under her chin and stared back at Naomi._

**ooo**

"Where the fuck is Q? He was supposed to meet us half an hour ago. This is putting a huge fucking dent in our time frame."

"I don't know, he wasn't at college either."

"Fuck."

Naomi grunted in annoyance as she dropped her bag onto the floor. Why hold it when the guy wasn't even showing up?

"It's okay, he'll be here." Freddie tried to assure her. She looked around at the group of people that were gathered in the park and shook her head. They all looked restless. The anticipation was getting to them and Q not making an appearance was only making them more rowdy.

"Okay, fuck this." She turned to Emily who was standing a few feet away talking to Effy.

"Em?" she called.

Emily cut herself off and shook her head inquisitively.

"You ready to go?"

The redhead glanced at Effy, who nodded. Both girls took the few steps needed to stand with Naomi.

"Okay Freds, get everyone together, we need to go over the meeting places and groups." she watched as Freddie got everyone to from a tight circle around Naomi. They were more people than the fist time around. Word had probably gotten out. Even those that kid she had seen at the freight yard was there and ready to tear shit up.

They reiterated every detail, even the minor one. Every single little nuance in the plan was important. There was no room for fucking up and they didn't want to alert the feds.

They finally split themselves into their respective groups. Naomi being with Effy, Freddie and Emily.

Noise from cars going by and their own heavy breathing was all that was heard as they began to walk down the street in the direction of the closest metro station. They entered in a line through the revolving door and stepped down the stairs, the quiet becoming all the more eerie as their mission settled completely on their shoulders. The weight made them press on, even as they sat on a bench and stared at the ground while waiting for the train to arrive.

The doors of the train slid open and they took one of the many little sections that had three seats. Freddie stood, holding onto a pole. Naomi noted that his knuckles had turned white from the force.

The felt herself being jerked forward suddenly as they train gathered speed and entered the underground tunnel completely. She looked at the glass window and read all the tiny scratched from people that had felt the compulsion to carve their name into the see-through solid.

The entire ride felt like a cloak had been thrown over her head. She was suffocating from the expectations that this plan brought. The responsibility. She felt her stomach churn with anxiety and she began to silently freak out over whether she'd be able to accomplish it or not. It was a terrible feeling, but it still made its way up her spine to make her shiver in fear. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she closed the lids in an attempt to block out the world for the moment while she tried to calm herself down. She felt a hand grab one of her own and she kept her eyes closed to be able to really feel it.

The warmth, the heat, the comfort. It all cushioned around her body to squeeze the life out of the tension that was pulling on her muscles. She relaxed into the pillow. She leaned back against the chair she was seated in and eventually opened her eyes again.

A glance at Emily was all she needed to help confirm that she could fucking do this. She would fucking get this done and it would be done well.

The train's speed began to decrease until Naomi felt the last tiny jolts of the old transportation system's speed deterrent.

They had gotten off at the terminus of the train's line. When it wasn't rush hour a few trains were usually kept deep in the tunnel. That's where they had to get. They climbed a flight of stairs to reach a cement bridge that would allow them to get onto the opposite platform of the one they had arrived on. It would be pretty suspicious if a worker saw them sitting on a side where the train just travels with no destination.

Naomi checked the time. The last departure was at around one A.M. on Saturdays. They had more than enough time. The only problem would be getting into the tunnel without the workers or public seeing them.

Four pairs of feet scuffled about to the very ending of the platform. They sat on a bench, making them look a bit more inconspicuous.

"Two of us go in and two stay out." Naomi muttered. The rest nodded. "We've already agreed that Eff and I are hitting it first, yeah?" Freddie tapped his chin and bobbed his head. "All right…" the blonde said as she stood and paced while she also looked into the tunnel whenever she could. Effy stood and threw something in the trash can.

A train rolled up on the track that was furthest away from them, leaving their side free. Naomi and Effy stood close to the edge as the train began to make its way up the darkened track. Right before the very last compartment was about to disappear into the tunnel, they easily bypassed a tiny steel sign that said workers only. They were a few feet into the tunnel on a tiny piece of platform about a foot and a half wide. There were four or five steps at the end of it to allow workers to step onto the tracks without jumping down. They stepped gingerly down the steps.

"Eff, remember not to step on both of those steel rods, okay? Or you'll get fucking fried."

Effy rolled her eyes, preferring not to speak at the moment. First they walked quickly, then they sped up into a light jog. Bags bumping against their backs, they reached into their sweaters' to pull out their ski masks. Both of their paces slowed slightly as they pulled the dark covers over their faces. They made it about two hundred feet into tunnel when they heard the shaky sound of a train starting to move.

"Shit." Naomi whispered as she scrambled to speed up and reach some sort of pocket in the tunnel. She heard Effy right behind her. The train began to move slowly towards them she moved even faster.

Sighing in relief, she turned into a little doorway and Effy follow suit. They faced the wall, not looking at the train. About thirty seconds passed before they felt and saw the train pass a few feet away from them. The conductor wouldn't see them because it was all too dark in the tunnel and the clothing they wore was purposely chosen to be completely black. Their hands were covered in gloves and the reason they turned to face the wall was to hide the tiny amount of skin on their faces that was on display.

After the last few metres of train passed, Naomi peeked her head out of the pocket and took a look down the tunnel. She smiled into her mask because a train was still parked at the far end of the passage. They stepped out and resumed their run towards the train. They slipped in the small space between the tunnel's wall and the train's first car.

Naomi placed her bag on a random piece of wall that jutted out conveniently. She got the cans out and took the surface in. Her mind determined how big the letters would have to be and how she would have to go about tying them together.

The letters were going to be silver and in your fucking face. She began spraying the first layer.

The fumes quickly and unexpectedly managed to get up her nose through the mask and she sputtered, not used to the poisonous smog attaching itself to her lungs.

"Nai, shut the fuck up." Effy said beside her, smoothly moving the can around and already getting her painting groove on.

"Fuck off." Noami chuckled lightly and continued spraying.

They continued in mostly silence, sometimes commenting on what they were doing or how they felt like they could hardly breathe without their lungs shrivelling up. Naomi swore that one whiff of this shit was worse for her lungs than every cigarette she'd ever smoked put together.

She wasn't sure how long they'd been down there but she was just finishing up the outline of the letters when suddenly the lights to the train were turned on. Her head snapped to look down the tunnel and she noticed the distinctive bobbing of flashlight coming their way. She stuffed the cans back into the bag and tried making her way as quickly as possible out of the vicinity of the train.

"Come on, Eff." Effy was ahead of her. They were about to emerge from behind the car when another worker came around from the other side of the train. They back themselves against the cool surface of the vehicle and hitched their breathing to make less noise. The workers were speaking to each other. It sounded like they hadn't realised that anyone else was in the tunnel with them.

Effy nudged Naomi a bit more to the side as a worker climbed into the driver's cabin. Naomi saw Effy leaning to the left slightly to watch the man. She heard the door open before the second worker called a name that the driver responded to. She heard footsteps leading away from the train when Effy grabbed her arm roughly and shoved her to commence running. They rushed as quickly and silently as they could to the front of the train. Naomi followed Effy's lead and crouched down so they couldn't be seen though the window. The worker had left the door opened momentarily. The staff were turned around when Effy made her move and stepped into the driver's cabin with Naomi close behind. The blonde reached for the handle that led to the public area of the car and she panicked when it didn't open.

"Move." the brunette beside her commanded. She brought her elbow down hard onto the handle and swore as she clutched her arm in pain. Naomi pushed the door opened. They heard the man coming back just as they were about to close the now broken door.

"Fuck it." Effy whispered to Naomi and the brunette ran the few steps to crouch behind some seats like she had just popped a million speed. Naomi had wasted a precious few seconds when she'd tried to close the door so she had to step and dive over a seat. She fell over the seat like a rag doll, but was hidden. She was winded and her face was scrunched in pain as they heard the man mutter. "What the fuck?" at the opened door. He pulled it closed and luckily didn't enter the car. Naomi wheezed as soon as the old train's gears were loud enough to permit.

She heard Effy laughing at her. As she looked up at one of the windows on the sliding door of the train now covered in silver paint. Naomi held her hand out like a dork for a high five. Effy nodded and slapped her hand.

Naomi remembered something and got up as quickly as possible so that when the train rolled out into the station Freddie and Emily would see her and get on the train. She didn't want them to be left behind. She jumped around like a fool so they would notice her and she saw a quick flash of laughter from both Freddie and Emily as they train glided past them. When it stopped and the two girls stepped out, Freddie and the redhead were already running towards them on the platform. They ran up the stairs, eager to get away from the scene of the crime. They didn't stop until they were outside.

"Jesus Christ, that was such a rush." Naomi gasped.

"That looked fucking amazing." Freddie exclaimed.

Naomi folded her ski mask up to make it look like a hat so it was less obvious that she'd been up to no good. Walking around wearing a ski mask when there wasn't a snow storm wasn't exactly the best way to be subtle. Effy did the same.

It took a while for them to calm down. With their composure regained, they followed Freddie as he led them to their next destination.

They were passing a large department store when Effy turned towards Naomi abruptly and smiled deviously. She dragged her eyes from the blonde to the parking lot of the store to coax her into catching on.

Naomi turned her head and caught sight of the truck sitting in the dead centre of the parking lot. To her, at that moment, it was the equivalent of a heavenly beacon shining through the day's nocturnal veil. Her lips stretch slowly into a sly grin as she stared hard at the vehicle. It was practically glowing. She could almost hear the hallelujah chorus.

The four of them all but ran all the way to the van as they shook the bags off their backs to get the paint out. To make the bombing go faster, Naomi omitted the U in Spunk. It was mainly to lessen the amount of time. You can never be sure when the driver was going to emerge from the shop.

This hiss of the can held a catchy beat. The constant, unrelenting projection of the paint made her feel comfortable and like she wanted to throw down at any second simultaneously. It was fucking exciting.

She managed to paint some bubble letters before grabbing the black paint and outlining it to make it pop. It was quick and smooth like a bomb should be executed. She strolled around the Effy's side and kicked her in the ass as payback for when she'd laughed at her in the tunnel before looking at what the brunette had accomplished.

That infinity symbol always looked more grand than any other tags that had letters. Fucking Effy and her freaky mastermind painting.

Freddie popped in and made a nice little handstyle inside one of the sign's loops.

Minutes later, they were back to making their way down the street.

Naomi looked at Emily beside her as she grabbed her hand. "You're quiet."

Emily looked at her, "Yeah."

"Why?"

"Just…trying to take it all in, you know?"

Naomi nodded and swung their hands back and forth.

"You look like you're going to rob a bank though."

Naomi laughed loudly for a second, "Well it's the best way to look when you're doing this. And you're wearing practically the same outfit, just minus this stupid ski mask."

"I look significantly less threatening than you."

"Oh really? How?"

"Well I don't have that evil, angry glare shit going on." Emily laughed.

"What? I don't do that…"

"Yeah, it's like your natural face."

"Whatever." Naomi scowled.

"See!" Emily pointed at her face and laughed.

Naomi's head snapped forward in a playful attempt to try and bite Emily's finger. The redhead's face scrunched adorably as she pulled her hand away.

They walked a few more blocks before Freddie led them to the corner of a street. He stopped at a van and unlocked the doors so that they could all hop in. After piling in, he sat in the driver's seat and lit a joint to pass it around.

Naomi didn't pay attention to which roads he took, she just knew the destination. She grabbed the spliff and took a puff, looking at the smoke rising. She reflected on what they were doing. About how when they woke up tomorrow, it would probably be all over the local news, even though there were more important things in the world for the news to report than a few "vandals" destroying some property.

It's funny how the city will spend thousands of dollars trying to cover something up that will be there forever. She always thought they could use the money on something more important. Besides, if the graffiti was done well, why ruin it? She'd asked a couple random people around if they liked to see some sweet graff around the city and they mostly replied positively. She just didn't get it.

Emily slapped her shoulder to get her out of her funk and stole the joint from her hand.

"You fucking fiend." Naomi said playfully. Emily just shrugged in return.

Freddie pulled up at another street corner. They exited the vehicle one by one and waited for Freddie to open the trunk.

Naomi grabbed an extension pole and the paint trays and rollers, as did Freddie. Effy and Emily grabbed the buckets of paint that were lined up on the side of the trunk. There were large re-usable plastic bags stuffed in the corner that Naomi also took to hand them to both Effy and Emily to hide the buckets while they walked the rest of the way to their goal.

The silence was back. The ominous, looming pressure of getting this plan exactly right. She remembered Q and how he had never shown up. Her mind began whirring with all of the explanations, none of them good enough to explain why Q would miss this opportunity. He just wouldn't. His love for the game was too strong. She sighed and upped her pace.

They stopped in front of an old hotel that was littered with tags and throw ups. The old hotel Raphael that was boarded up a few years ago, now looking like some broken down warehouse that people mostly associated with modern ghettos.

She dropped her extension pole and ran her hand along the fence until she came to a hole at the bottom. Her bag fell to the ground as she bent down and touched her index finger to the jagged metal, the scar on her thigh feeling somehow heavier as she remembered her adventures with Will. She pushed herself onto her stomach and shoved herself through the tiny hole. The others didn't ask questions. They just threw the backpack with the cans over the fence for her to reach it.

She pulled out some white paint and walked straight up to the old building and began spraying right over the bit of wall that had her own, Freddie's and Q's tag next to each other. She finished h\the fill quickly so they could get back to their main objective. As always she outlined it in black and was on her way.

Back through the underside of the fence with her bag having been thrown back over the fence for the second time, she picked up the supplies and continued walking.

They kept going until they reached a series of billboards lining the entrance road of a freeway. They weren't too high, maybe twenty feet off the ground after climbing the ladder.

Freddie climbed up the ladder first, carrying four buckets. Naomi watched him lift himself onto the steel part right under the large picture. He looked down and winked at her as a sign to let her know she could come up.

The ladder was slim, almost entirely too slim to put both feet onto one bar at the same time. She climbed as far as she could before handing one of the extension poles to Freddie and going back down for the second one. Freddie took the pole from her grip and helped her up the rest of the way. They worked silently attaching the paint rollers to the extensions poles. Naomi laid one down horizontally onto the scaffold and grabbed the bucket that contained the first layer of paint.

Even though the advertisement they were painting over would eventually get removed along with their piece, she wanted it to be fucking perfect. No half-assing the bottommost coat.

She glanced down and her eyes widened. Vertigo hit her straight between the eyes and her stomach began to stir unpleasantly. She fought down the mass that was creeping up her throat while she turned back to face the massive surface in front of her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Freddie pour the primer into a pan and she rushed to dip her roller in as a distraction. He did the same. They coated the billboard in the paint. Sometimes she would lift the pole too quickly and some would drip onto her face and clothes, but she didn't mind too much.

It was a long process. First layer, then fucking off while it dried. Then all the rest while being careful not to make each layer bleed into the other.

Naomi and Freddie climbed off the billboard to chat with the other girls while waiting for the time to come to continue the piece.

"Hey." Naomi said quietly to Emily, who was staring at the freshly painted sign.

"Hi." Emily tore her gaze away from the bright colour to look at Naomi.

"So…What do you think?" the blonde's posture was slightly bent and she was fiddling with her fingers self-consciously.

"Naomi." Emily stopped the fidgeting hands with one of her own. "It's brilliant. Everything."

"You don't think it's…disgusting?"

Emily furrowed her eyebrows, "Disgusting?"

"Like…something people only do to benefit themselves…a lot of people think that…that it's just to get our names out and whatever…" Naomi fell into another series of sentences that transitioned into yet another messy ramble.

It was cut short by Emily's lips on her own. Startled she fell back slightly until she came in contact with the fence. She had a fleeting thought - Emily was always pushing her into things - before she finally found the ability to return the kiss. She opened her mouth and lifted her hand to Emily's face to stroke the skin along her jaw line. Emily's tongue brushed her own and she sighed into the kiss before breaking it and resting her forehead against the redhead's shoulder. "As much as I want to continue this, I want to be able to actually stand when I get back up there." She felt Emily chuckle.

"Naaaaai!" she heard Freddie call and she released Emily to walk back to the slim ladder.

"Yeah, yeah." she waved him off and followed him up. She bent down and groaned when she felt the faint ache in her lower back. The pain was already starting and it would only get worse by the time the whole piece was done. She straightened herself up and held the pole in both of her hands tightly, waiting for Freddie to pour a different colour into the tray.

After dipping it in, she lifted it carefully against the surface and rolled it slowly where she wanted it to go. There was no choice but to be diligent. This wasn't some quick little throw up. One mistake and the thing would look like shit, there was no covering it up at this scale. She stared hard at the roller and the liquid coming off of it. A long while passed and she finally took her roller down to saturate it again. She bent her neck and sucked in a breath. There was pain there too from craning it for so long, but she'd have to get over it. They were here to finish the job.

She breathed deeply and lowered her hand to steady the rod onto the floor. Freddie tapped her should and offered her a cigarette. She took it gratefully and let it hang between her lips as she looked for her lighter.

Not succeeding in finding it, she saw Freddie's hands approach her face. She scratched her forehead and held the rigg straight with her lips and he lit it for her. An awkwardly shaped smiled formed on her face, her lips holding the stick simultaneously. He laughed and pocketed the lighter before grabbing the pole and getting started once again.

Naomi turned and looked down again, this time the dizziness didn't come. Emily was looking up at her and the blonde waved like a dork. She sucked on her cigarette, then removed it from her mouth. She breathed out and looked along the horizon to see how long they'd been there. She couldn't really tell exactly, but the faraway sky looked a bit lighter than before. It was approaching early morning.

Her cigarette was held between her lips again as she whipped off the folded hat. It was making her head itch way too much for wearing it too long.

She let herself get into the zone when she lifted the roller again. All she saw was colour, and the complexities of how each one would be utilised to achieve a different feel in each of their respective areas of the piece. It was almost mechanical, the way she just knew.

She scrunched her eyebrows when a screeching car made its way down the road. The horrid noise was breaking any amount of concentration she had. Her lip disappeared under her teeth as she fought to keep going through the distraction. She almost succeeded, until the screeching came to an abrupt stop somewhere on the ground below her.

She saw Freddie turn and look down at almost the exact same moment. She watched four men emerge from the car. A fifth was dragged out of the vehicle. His hat was familiar, as was his slouchy posture. She immediately recognised him as Q.

Except from what she could see, which wasn't that much, he looked to be in pain. One of the men holding him up glanced up before throwing Q onto the floor. He landed flat on his face. Naomi watched Effy make her way cautiously towards the guys. The brunette was a few steps away when another car pulled up and the guys Naomi had rounded up emerged. She briefly wondered how they'd all gotten themselves to fit into the car when there were over ten people and only five seats plus the trunk.

The guys stepped in front of Effy, but none of them saw where Emily was.

Naomi almost dropped her pole when she saw one of the rivals grab the redhead forcibly. Her heart rate sped up and her palms got sweaty. She wondered if this was actually happening or if she was just imagining it. With her eyes wide and breathing laboured she began to tremble.

Her head snapped back towards the confrontation when she heard a tortured squeal come from Emily. She was being held with her hands behind her back. Naomi began to panic and she averted her gaze from the scene. If she couldn't see it, it wasn't there right?

"Naomi!" Freddie called harshly, "What the fuck are you doing? Get down there!"

She shook herself halfway out of her stupor, dropped the pole and began to climb down the ladder. Wanting to get there as quickly as possible, when she reached the midpoint she mumbled "Fuck it." and kicked her feet off the ladder and slid the rest of the way down. She almost fell on her ass when she landed, but she didn't give a shit. She ran to face the guys with her crew.

"Let her go, you fucker." she got straight to the point.

The guy laughed, "So, what is this? Whatcha doin' to the city tonight, girlie? Spreading your dead cunt of a friend all over this fucking city. There's no room for him here anymore."

"That's what this is about? You're feeling threatened? You must be pretty low in the game if you're feeling threatened by a dead guy." she retorted, stepping forward.

"Ah, ah, ah…" the guy warned, pulling Emily backwards with him. "I've come here to make a deal…Concerning something your shitty little friend Spunk stole a few years ago…or your little girlfriend here gets it." She saw movement come from behind Emily's back, making her squirm. The light from the street lamp reflected off something metallic. The blade of a knife peeked out from between the guy's chest and Emily's back. She recognised it immediately. She then looked at all the faces ready to fight it out before her and realised that most of them were familiar. The few guys and that girl from when she painted her first freight, the men from when she was attacked by herself and even the dealer that had cornered her in his car.

_Motherfucker._


	24. Chapter 24

**T****his chapter contains excessive use of the words fuck, fucking and fucker, 'cause when Naomi's pissed, she's _fucking_ pissed.**

**Also, I am aware that this chapter will get lost amongst the riotous flailing excitement over The Game. That's fuckin' aiiggghttt.  
**

* * *

**Drawing and Creative Expression progress: Unsatisfactory. Student was not present in the number of classes required nor did she attempt to explain her absence the few times she did come in. This will result in failure if behaviour persists.**

_Naomi stared at the mid-term report._

Great_._

_She was doing brilliantly in all of her other courses. She couldn't bring herself to go to the stupid drawing class. For one, it was boring as hell and two, she just felt like she couldn't face Emily. When she did go in, she made sure to get there late so that most of the seats were taken and she'd be forced to sit somewhere that was as far from Emily as possible. _

_Christ, she made the girl sound like some sort of pariah._

_Which wasn't true. Everyone loved Emily. She was always talkative in class while Naomi sulked in a dark corner of the classroom because she couldn't stand watching the redhead be all happy and bubbly when it wasn't with her. If someone looking at her throughout class at all, they'd probably think she was possessed._

Fuck, you're so stupid. Seriously, you need to grow a pair_. she thought to herself as she got up from the kitchen table and grabbed her school bag._

_She walked down the street, munching on her apple and just looking at all the houses that would usually bore anyone else to within an inch of death. She just like looking at their shapes and presentation then thinking about the people that lived in them._

_She was halfway down the street when a figure standing at the end of the road caught her eye. There was no mistaking it._

_Emily and her bright fucking hair were waiting for her at the end of the street. _

_She stopped walking and took a huge bite from her apple, almost choking on the size of the chunk. She looked behind her to see if Emily might be waiting for someone else, but no one was there. She chewed and walked ahead, there was no point in trying to avoid her._

_The redhead was standing with a hand on her hip, not looking amused._

_Naomi looked from side to side guiltily and chewed once more._

"_What do you think you're playing at? You're going to fail that fucking class!" Emily started, already red in the face. "Just because you want to avoid me, doesn't mean you should just skip every fucking class."_

_Naomi tried to swallow the fruit in her mouth. It went down painfully due to it being still pretty solid from trying to rush it into her stomach. She took a deep breath and responded with tears in her eyes. "I just don't like the class." she lied._

"_Bullshit." Emily and her x-ray eyes saw straight into her brain and past the crap she had just told her._

"_Fuck, why did I even come here?" Emily said to herself whilst turning away from Naomi. "Fuck's sake." Naomi heard her mutter under her breath._

_She stomped away angrily and Naomi furrowed her brows in confusion, the confrontation striking her as slightly pointless._

_She felt like she should say something to make the redhead feel better._

"_Thanks for caring!" she shouted down the street, not realising how condescending or sarcastic that could sound._

_Emily paused momentarily and continued walking, flipping Naomi the bird._

**ooo**

One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. She repeated in quick succession through the voice in her head. Her four fingers drumming on her thumb one after another, adopting the old, compulsive twitch that she thought she had permanently kicked until now. It was like her brain had shut down all other functions except for repeating that sequence as a means of comfort. Breathing shortened to tight, almost painfully short gasps and sweat beginning to pour from her skin despite the cold, she closed her eyes tightly.

_You knew this was going to happen, why did you drag her into this?_

Her own brain was now spewing each fear she ever had about anything into the forefront of her mind.

_You can't paint for shit._

_Will died because you were too slow to save him._

_Emily is going to leave you._

_Your mum went away because she hated you._

_You deserved to get attacked in that alley._

_You're a dirty, worthless waste of space._

_Your sexuality is shameful, you should have killed yourself when you had the chance._

_Emily will realise she can do so much better than a trashy fuck like you._

_Emily is going to leave you._

_Will hates you._

_Emily hates you._

_She'll leave you._

_Will left._

Numbness had begun to permeate her senses at this point, another old defence mechanism. Trying to make herself feel as less as possible. But she couldn't shake the thoughts banging around behind her eyes. It was like they were boxing for dominance in her conscience. One worse than the other, the most hurtful one would prevail. This went on for a few more seconds before one more thought repelled all of the others.

_Emily._

_Emily was _here_._

She cranked her eyes open. Instead of the cowardly glow previously reflected in them, they held a strong, determined gleam. A lingering hope that had buried itself deep within her brain the first time Emily had ever offered to lend a hand to her. Emily was all the good in the world. Through the muck, mud, dirt, shit, grime - she was the light; the powerful ray of brilliance that blasted through any shaded, darkened canopy you could ever find yourself in. When you found yourself lost, she was the star that inevitably guided you.

_This wonderful person deserves more than you just standing here with your eyes closed, pretending this wasn't happening. _

With renewed confidence - Emily being the root - she took a step forward and eyed every person in front of her making eye contact with each one.

"So I'm assuming that every single fucking event was planned, then?" she asked, not giving away the shock to her system the realisation had been.

"Good job, you're smart aren't you?" the man holding Emily sneered. "Let me tell you a little story."

Naomi clenched her jaw and refrained from making a move on the guy. Who knew what he was capable of?

"I once lived in a nice little apartment in Little Burgundy. Two bedroom, place looked crummy as fuck, but I liked it." He pulled Emily closer to him as she had tried to wiggle out of his grasp for the few seconds he was talking. "There was a family downstairs. A mom, her son and her daughter. The mom was fucking crazy - always talking to herself. I sold her anything she wanted."

Naomi dug her fingers into her palm and bit her tongue, knowing that this guy was talking about Will's mum. Just the thought of her made her blood boil. And this fucker in front of her talking about Will's family made her want to kick the shit out of him.

"One day I got home to find my house had been robbed. Half a pound of weed, a coke stash, a stack of cash. All gone. Just like that. I couldn't figure out who could have done it. The next day, the family packed and moved out of the apartment and I remembered that whenever I had dealt to that crackhead mom, some awkward lookin' kid with a blue hat would always be around givin' me dirty looks. I didn't like that one bit. I didn't like that at all." He cleared his throat and licked his lips, now dry from talking so much. "Then a few weeks later I heard that a kid was selling exactly what was stolen from me in DG. And I thought, man, that kid cost me hundreds of dollars and I was in deep with my providers. They was all up my ass about losin' the goods and the money and my head was on the chopping block. So I thought…So I thought…" he repeated and shook his head, smiling "that kid is going is going to pay for what he took."

Naomi was grinding her teeth now, so close to losing control. So close to giving in and just fucking ripping this guy's head off. She knew Will had been in way over his head at some point, but she thought it had stopped. She knew he had stolen some stuff around that time, she just hadn't known what. When she'd asked him about it he had said, "It's okay. It's better. It's for my mum. So she won't make herself hurt anymore. And Zoë can be taken care of properly…by a normal mother." But his mother's addictions had never ceased. Last Naomi heard, she'd done a stint in rehab and Will's baby sister had been taken into foster care. For all the years she'd known Will, she had met his mother once and it was completely by accident. He hardly spoke of his home life, or of his sister. She knew him like the back of her hand, but she had never known about his home life. Hearing it from this random thug made her all the more angry.

"I found him." the guy said suddenly, "Well not immediately, but I heard through the grapevine that he was a really popular writer and from there it was way too easy to track him. Initially, we were just going to one-up a ton of his tags and really drive his name into the ground. Embarrass him, so that he never showed his fucking scrawny ass again. Then we heard that he was planning a hit on the popular wall just off the highway near the train tracks. Thanks to this guy." he nudged a passed out Q with one of his feet. "We were ready to jump that bitch and teach him a lesson. But when we got on the train to travel near the spot we knew he'd be at quicker, we were told to leave. Apparently a few weeks before they'd caught us on camera dealing in the back of the train station. We held up the train almost an hour trying to get away and talk them out of arresting us. It didn't work, but we still managed to stall the train for about fifty minutes."

This little fact jogged Naomi's memory. She remembered waiting with Will near a fence, watching the tracks. They had checked which times the train would pass and this one just didn't seem to follow the schedule, so they had said fuck it and went onto the tracks anyway.

"That made the train super late in passing by the major graff wall and guess what? That same train killed your friend. We were just looking to knock some sense into his tiny head but the train completely fucking massacred him for us instead." There was a malicious glint in his eye, like he wanted her to rip his eyes out.

She did want to…but she didn't. This revelation didn't change anything. Knowing that these guys were the main cause for Will's death wasn't going to bring her best friend back. Knowing this wasn't going change anything. If anything, all it did was make her heart ache just a bit more. It wasn't much of a difference. She constantly longed to have Will back.

She knew now, though. She knew that there was no way he was returning and she accepted that completely.

"Now that he was dead, though…It didn't bring my money back and it didn't get my head out of the water. Guys higher up were still after me. So I sent for his best friend - You. It wasn't hard. Q over here happened to know where you were all the time. We tried tracking you down at a club, in that alley and in that car before your friend even died, but again he foiled us completely. And we were never able to corner you until now because you always seemed to have people around you. For a loner you know a lot of people."

Learning about Q's betrayal wasn't as surprising as she thought it would be. She'd suspected it was him for some time. It was obvious. He's the one that warned Will to be careful and that someone was looking at the crew to collect for a debt that one of them had and he was the first one of the crew apart from Will to become aware of her sexuality. It all just pointed to him. She'd always thought he was the mole and it was confirmed.

The one thought being repeated in her head throughout all of this was that every person standing before her was responsible for every shitty thing that ever happened to her and now they were even threatening to take Emily from her. When was it going to be enough for them?

"You are pathetic." she said, voice steady, eyes locked onto the man's own pair. She noticed his eyebrow twitch in response. He was probably surprised that she hadn't broken down crying by now. "What?" he spat.

"You're fucking pathetic. You destroy someone's entire life for some stupid selfish reason. You killed a guy, had a girl practically violated, got me held up by gunpoint in a car and now you're holding one of the only other people that matters to me hostage all for some stupid fucking drug money that you lost years ago. You must be pretty shit if you failed so many times 'cause I'm still standing, you have no money, and you're about to get your fucking ass whooped, son."

Everyone standing seemed to have forgotten that there had been a second person on the billboard, but she hadn't. She assumed Freddie had stepped carefully onto the other side of the advertisement to climb down the ladder so that no one would see his movement.

Right when she finished saying the last word of her tiny speech, she heard footsteps speed up suddenly.

Next thing she knew the guys in front of her were being pushed down like dominos. Freddie knocked one so he would fall into another, causing another to fall into two that were standing close together and so on.

The wave quickly reached where Emily was. The guy stumbled forward, causing Emily to lose her footing. He landed on top of her, the knife grazing her side. It left a curved, shallow cut from right underneath her breast, across her ribs to her back. She didn't seem fazed at all, immediately kicking and pushing her way out from underneath the man.

Naomi watched as everyone began to recover from the tumble and turned towards her own group, "What the fuck are you waiting for?"

Her crew immediately went after the other collective. Naomi rushed forwards and grabbed the man that had Emily roughly by the back of his shirt. She pulled him up, almost ripping the shirt from the force and she brought him up to her face. They were nose to nose. He struggled but she kept her hold on him.

"You're fucking scum." she said in a low voice before spitting in his face and throwing him back onto the ground. "You're a fucking coward." she added, more loudly as she gave him a hard kick to the ribs. She heard the faint sounds of fighting going on all around her. The grunting, yelling, sounds of hands and feet coming down hard on their opponents made her feel more at home in the night than she'd felt since she'd been out with Will. The chaos was all consuming and her comfort. It was like her mind was finally being reflected back at her in front of her eyes. She'd spent years trying to claw and punch her way out of her head, only to find that there was really no escape. But now, watching all of the people fight for their deceased friend, she felt like her demons had finally been released. She felt alive.

She turned back to the guy and straddled his chest.

"How do you fucking like it? Being straddled like a bitch with no one to help you?" the way she was enunciating her words caused more spit to splatter onto his face.

She grabbed his shirt to tilt him up and pulled one hand back to bring back down onto his head.

There was a satisfyingly dull clunk of skin against the bone structure of the side of his face. She did it again and again until suddenly she was being pulled back. She began to struggle, not immediately realising who was pulling her back.

"Naomi, stop." She heard close to her ear and she stopped flailing immediately. She looked down at the guy who was now curled up in the foetal position. "Fucking all talk and no action. Fucking piece of shit." she screamed the last word, her voice hoarse as she moved forward with her arms being held behind her by Emily. She dragged the redhead forward until Emily decided that she was acting a bit insane.

Naomi felt another rough tug at her arms and her body weight was forced backwards. She bumped into Emily's chest.

"Calm down, okay?" Emily whispered.

"Don't tell me to fucking calm down." Naomi snapped, ripping her hands from Emily's grasp and stomping off towards where Freddie was having a battle of his own

She walked to stand behind the guy that Freddie was about to bring down.

"Hey, dickhead!" she shouted and the guy turned, wondering what the fuck was going on.

The moment his eyes reached her own, her fist crashed itself into his jaw. He grunted and she shook her hand in the air. Her knuckles ached, but moved on before he had the chance to recover. Freddie just stared at her, looking quite scared.

She looked around to get the feel of her surroundings again. It was like she was surrounded by two packs of hungry lions, just trying to rip out each other's throats. Her eyes landed on a pile in front of the billboard. Freddie must have taken the poles down with him. Immediately, she took off into a run to grab one of the extension poles that were now folded into themselves, making them about four feet in length.

She held it like a bat and walked up to a random pair fighting. When a man from the opposing crew came near her she swung the makeshift weapon into the back of one of his knees, effectively bringing him down. He let out a loud scream and crumpled to the ground.

She was just going around, bringing as many members of the other crew down quickly. She didn't give a crap about how cheap and twisted it was. At this point she was just a savage fucking animal.

The pole was swung backwards once again, ready to mangle someone else's leg, when it was pulled from her grasp from behind.

She turned and was immediately punched in the eye. The force sent her flying to the ground.

A taste of her own medicine, she thought.

"Fucking bitch, think you could fucking get me down that quickly." The guy she had first kicked the shit out of raised the pole over his head, about to bring it down onto her stomach. She held her hands out as she saw the slightest movement of gravity helping it on its descent to her abdomen.

She screamed and closed her eyes when it was inches away, but the blow never came. Eyes opened again she looked to her left to find Emily and the guy in a tug of war over the pole. Emily was yanked forward and right before she fell into the guy's chest, he pushed the pole into her face, making her cry out and successfully psyching her out as she had been trying to use the same pull and push strategy.

Emily fell onto her back, clutching the left side of her face in pain.

The guy laughed. He fucking _laughed. _Naomi saw red. The rage she had been feeling the entire time just completely exploded. Adrenaline now pumping through her veins, tunnel vision targeting the fucker that hit Emily in the face she grabbed the other end of the pole before he could process what was happening and she pushed it into his stomach hard. He became winded, and his grip slackened. She took the pole back and he doubled up, bending his knees slightly.

She leaned forward, her mouth falling in line with the top of his ear, "Shouldn't have done that, you little fucker." She lifted the pole over her head, about to apply what the guy had previously wanted to do to her, when Freddie's voice cut through her violent berserker blackout.

"Get in the fucking car!" he screamed at her and the sirens coming from all directions finally slipped into her ears through the angry static.

"Shit." she said and threw the pole off to the side. She ran to Emily and helped her up.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

Emily removed her hand from her face and looked up at Naomi. The blonde could tell that she would have a ton of bruising around her left eye and side of her face.

The redhead looked unsure for a moment before smiling and saying "I'm great. Can we get the fuck out of here, now?"

The sirens were getting louder by the second.

"Just hold on." Naomi said and walked to where Q had been lying down the entire time. She rolled him over with both of her hands. "I forgive you Q, but you better tell these fuckers to lay off me. I'm done with this. I quit the game. It's finished."

With her heart still beating faster than it ever has and hands shaking, she grabbed Emily and headed for the car. She went around to the driver's side while Emily slipped into the passenger's seat.

Naomi rolled the window down to scream a question. Most of the other crew had fled at this point, and her own was picking up all of the evidence of them being there. Well, minus the people that had been knocked out during the entire scene. "Who the fuck needs a ride?"

Freddie was picking up the extension poles when he turned around, looking exasperated, "Just go, you fucking idiot!"

She didn't need to be told twice. She started the car and pushed her foot onto the pedal, jetting out of there as quickly as possible.

A few cop cars passed by her as she sped down the road and she tried to act as nonchalant as possible by going at the proper speed whenever they came by.

When they got far enough, Naomi slowed then parked the car. She let out a deep breath and looked at the roof of the vehicle. Puffing her cheeks out, she reached to her side, blindly looking for a piece of Emily to hold onto. Her hand landed on something soft. Not excepting the texture and thinking that she would have found a hand or an arm, she rubbed it lightly in confusion. "What the fuck?" she said under her breath before she finally rotated her head to find that her hand had been groping Emily's chest.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, moving her hand away as swiftly as possible, "I'm so sorry." Emily clicked her tongue smirked at Naomi's panicky retreat. She grabbed the same hand and brought it back towards her, laying it on her upper thigh, the position causing Naomi to lean forward slightly.

Emily raised her hand and traced Naomi's face with her index finger. "You know you have a wicked black eye right now?" she said lightly rubbing the area, careful not to cause pain.

"So do you. And a bit of bruising on your forehead and side of your face." Naomi replied, also lifting her hand to cup Emily's face in return. She allowed her thumb to stroke the redhead's cheek.

"That whole thing was so fucked up." Naomi commented.

"It was." Emily agreed.

"Thanks for interfering when he was about to cave my skull in." Naomi laughed lightly. Emily didn't return the chuckle.

"It's not funny. I was terrified. I wasn't thinking when I went for him. I just knew that he couldn't do that to you."

"Same." Naomi replied, referring to the animalistic rage she'd felt when she'd seen the rod hit Emily in the face.

She felt Emily fingers nimbly creeping to the back of her neck to apply a light pressure. She knew what was coming, her eyes were closed and lips were parted before they even came in contact with Emily's.

Their lips moved together, conveying the relief they felt about the other being okay. It quickly transitioned into something more intense as their tongues clashed all the more forcefully. Naomi's hand moved higher up Emily's thigh, fingers spreading out to get as close to her centre as possible without actually making contact through the tight fabric of her jeans.

Suddenly, Naomi was pushed back into her seat. Emily unbuckled her seatbelt and Naomi's. She began to climb over the short distance to get to Naomi's lap.

"What are you doing? You're going to-" Naomi started, alarmed at Emily's sudden fervour.

"Naomi, just shut the fuck up and let me do what I want." Emily commanded, securing herself on the blonde's lap.

Naomi kept her hands anywhere but on Emily, trying not to encourage the beast straddling her thighs.

"I..uuhh…" she mumbled looking off to the side.

Her attention snapped back to Emily when the redhead grabbed both of her hands and laid them flat against her ribs, right underneath the curves of her breasts. "Just do what you want, Nai."

Naomi's mouth opened and closed as she stared into the dark brown eyes trying to coerce her into giving in. She could feel Emily's heated skin through the thin black sweater. Convincing her to let go. It didn't take much effort. She'd been too far gone for years.

She bit her lip and then grinned as she wrapped her arms around Emily and brought their bodies as close as possible. She was careful not to upset the cut on the redhead's right side.

As she roughly pressed their lips together again, she could honestly say that moment was the turning point in the way she thought. She'd jumped heart first into the fire in front of her and she finally felt fucking free of the shackles that had held her down for so long. The guilt she used to feel from Will's death was alleviated from her shoulders, she wasn't embarrassed by her social status and the shame around preferring women that had been instilled in her mind by those brainless fucks was gone.

Because she wasn't ashamed of Emily. Who would be? She was a generous, kind-hearted, beautiful girl that offered Naomi the whole fucking world on a silver platter. It would be rude for Naomi not to grab it with both hands, right? Grab it, she did.

Her hands moved immediately underneath Emily's sweater, feeling the girl's muscles quiver under her touch as she pressed her hands anywhere and everywhere along the redhead's lower back.

Emily broke their kiss and moved down to her neck. Naomi's breathing quickened and her hands moved over Emily's back more roughly. She could hear the redhead's breathing hitch through her kisses every time she happened to brush a particularly sensitive spot on her left side. It was exhilarating; discovering Emily's body in ways she thought she'd never be allowed.

The tiny girl planted a few more kisses along the length of Naomi's neck before pulling back and licking her lips. Half-lidded eyes stared hard at Naomi, as if wondering if this was actually happening. Naomi raised one eyebrow in response before leaning forward and gently touching her lips to the damaged skin on the underside of Emily's eye. She felt Emily's eyelashes flutter against her upper lip and she smiled against the skin she was attempting to soothe.

Naomi moved her face to lean her cheek against Emily's so that her mouth was centimetres from the redhead's ear. "I'm sorry you got hurt." she whispered, making sure that her hot breath swept across Emily's neck. Naomi wondered whether Emily would get that she wasn't just apologising for the physical injuries that she had inadvertently caused. The little firecracker shivered in response before brushing her hands down Naomi's sides to travel under the blonde's shirt, copying the ministrations that Naomi was performing on her back.

"It's okay." Emily finally replied.

Naomi thought that those two short sentences were able to sum up their entire history.

* * *

**You'll like next chapter 'kaaaaaaaay? ;) I promiiisssse.**

DG** = NDG = Notre-Dame-De-Grâce = borough previously mentioned somewhere in another chapter.**

Little Burgundy** is another borough. It's kinda gross but cool.  
**

**_Vangoghgurrl_, Well...I didn't hurt her much, but do you still want the stalker? I'll pay shipping and everything else. Even the cost of her living. and thanks for loving my shit, haha. I thought last chapter was kind of eeeeh. So, again, thank you verr verr much.**

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, Plan didn't go as long as I wanted it to :( I can't really make them continue painting if the cops are after them/they just got the hell kick out of them, haha.**

**_Alex_, Aw, thank you :D That's a huge compliment to give, considering I went into this story not even sure how I would properly portray any of the characters. Ha! **

**_Naoemms_, I don't know if I handled it too well, to be honest. I'm not that confident with this chapter. But it's what the characters pulled out of me and I feel like I wouldn't be staying true to them If I rewrote. So hopefully you enjoyed it :) and thanks for you review!**

**_starsdieout_, Hahahahaha, I would die too if anything like this was to be made a movie. Actually, I have something you might like. It's only a trailer for a film coming out, but I'll send it to you by means of a PM. and thank you again. I feel that these last few chapters haven't been my strongest so you reviewing and saying that I never disappoint gets a huge thumbs up.**

**_lumagoo1015_, Hahahahaha thanks for the keyboard mashing over her situation, it was a proper reaction. When my head reared that idea, I did the same. Hopefully you enjoyed the way this went down and thanks a million for your review :)**

**I always forget but alerters and favour(ers?) you are not forgotten! Thank you for wanting to keep up with this tale. Seriously. Come dance with me.**

**Peace xx**


	25. Chapter 25

**HI, sorry for the wait, I kicked up a shit storm made of family and friends by dropping out of college earlier this week (not permanently) and everybody's been riding me (not in the pleasurable sense, unfortunately.) like fucking mad. So had a hard time finding the chance to write. ALSO, didn't help that this chapter has what everyone's apparently been waiting for and it was fooking hard to write and I have no idea how some people write it regularly. lalalalalalallalala. Apologies if it sucks n stuff u no. ye.**

* * *

Naomi wasn't exactly sure where they were heading. They'd been driving around for hours, waiting for word from Freddie to see if everyone was okay, or if anyone had been arrested. She felt guilty for just leaving them even though Freddie had told her that it was okay.

"You shouldn't feel bad, you know?"

"Hmm?" Naomi glanced at Emily from the corner of her eye, then turned her eyes back ahead of her to pay attention to the road.

Emily tightened her grip on Naomi's right hand, "You shouldn't feel bad for leaving them there. You were all protecting each other. It's what friends like that should do."

Naomi sighed, "I know, but…"

"No." Emily interrupted. Naomi could see the grin spreading across Emily's face in her peripheral vision.

"What?" she asked after a few seconds of pause.

Emily trailed her fingers up Naomi's arm, raising one eyebrow at the goose bumps that appeared in their wake, "No." she repeated.

Naomi's attention was on her completely now. She cast a lopsided smile at Emily, "Okay." she replied, hardly projecting her voice and feeling incredibly small due to the strange power the redhead wielded.

She felt like doing something fun.

She wanted to just chill out with Em. It felt like they'd never done that before. Everything lately always had a reason behind it. They never got the chance to just sit around and be with each other and not have to worry about what it would lead to. They were going to do that now. With no worries, because…Well, just _because_.

Letting her mood lead them, Naomi drove the car wherever her arms and hands took it.

Ten minutes later, she knew her mind had subconsciously taken them somewhere they wouldn't be disturbed.

She parked the car and stepped out. Emily emerged seconds later, "Where are we?"

Naomi just grinned and jingled the car keys in her hand. She put her finger through the small metal ring and ceased the noise they had been making.

She made her way to the trunk of the car. This was the moment of truth. She took a deep breath.

"Don't fail me now, Freds." she muttered before unlocking the trunk and lifting the steel cover.

Her eyes crinkled at the edges as a result of the massive smile that had stretched onto her face. She bit her lip and said, "Yes!"

She was about to grab the case of beer, but her actions were cut off by her phone ringing.

"Shit." she shoved the car keys into her pocket and checked her back pockets for her phone.

"Hello?" she answered. She could hear static, laughing and the unmistakeable sound of bass pumping through a building.

"Naaaai!" Freddie's voice finally emerged from the receiver. She smiled in relief. All that noise would most certainly mean that they'd all gotten away safely.

"What's up, Freddie?" Her smile was starting to make her face ache.

"Just calling to say…you know…We're fucking okay! It was intense man! Cops chasing us in the stupid van across the city. We had to get rid of it 'cause you know…They probably saw the license plate and all of that…" he was slurring a bit, but she was able to understand most of what he was saying. She cut him off, "And the other guys? What happened to them?"

"They got away, but…They won't be bothering you anymore, Nai. You're free."

"I'm free." she repeated.

"Yeah!" Freddie laughed. "You still with Em?"

"Yeah."

"You guys should come. Usual place."

She looked at Emily, who was smiling at her. "Maybe later." she winked at the redhead, "I've got some stuff to do."

"You better be reaching though."

"I will Freds.

"Okay. Okay…" he laughed at something on the other side of the phone. She rolled her eyes and hung up because he was probably too distracted to get back to the conversation anyway.

She turned back to the car and lifted the case of beer onto her should. Emily closed the trunk for her and followed Naomi to wherever the blonde was heading.

They eventually turned and arrived at a large open area. Naomi walked up the few steps from the sidewalk and she arrived in front of her destination. She stopped to stare at the fountain in the centre of the platform. Street lamps were placed accordingly in rows around the large stone structure. They cast a warm glow over the running water, one that drew her in and made her walk towards it and place the box on her shoulder near the rim.

She was thankful that the city workers hadn't turned it off yet. It would probably be open for another week or so, but not more because it was getting colder by the day. She skimmed her hands over the surface, the frigid liquid causing her fingers to tingle. She heard the clank of beer bottles and suddenly one was in her hand, given to her by Emily. When she looked at the redhead, the girl's head was already tipped back, mouth on the bottle, taking more alcohol at a speed that Naomi could only laugh at before popping the cap off her own and doing the same.

A few beers in and despite the cold, Naomi decided to take her shoes and socks off to sit at the edge of the fountain with her feet in the water. It was fucking freezing, but she didn't have even the slightest care.

She was too busy being entranced by the ripples any movement in her body created in the shallow water to notice the redhead creeping up behind her. She felt arms encircle her neck from behind seconds later, Emily's head coming forward so that she could rest her chin on Naomi's shoulder.

"Hello." she heard the familiar voice husk into her ear.

She tipped her head back, face becoming buried in soft red hair, "Hi!" she said a little too loudly.

Emily giggled and tipped the blonde's head back forward. She brought the beer held by her hands in front of Naomi to the blonde's mouth and tried to get her to drink.

Naomi attempted to comply, but their inebriation and bumbling movements only caused Emily to miss Naomi's mouth completely and have the beer dribble down the side of the blonde's chin.

Emily dropped the bottle into the fountain and began laughing, clutching onto Naomi even more tightly in an attempt to lessen the shaking of her body from the raucous chortling.

They were becoming unbalanced as Emily's laughter spread to Naomi.

Her hands clutched the rim of her seat and she managed to rasp out, "Stop moving so much, you're going to make me fall in!" Another loud guffaw bubbled up straight after she finished her sentence.

Emily swayed to the left and let go of Naomi as she fell onto the ground. The unexpected swing and alleviation of weight from Naomi's shoulder caused her to jolt forward and fall head first into the fountain. She'd been leaning forward to oppose the pull from Emily's arms. As always, her plan had backfired.

She opened her eyes briefly under water, looking to the side to see the beer bottle float away from her slowly from the force from her body falling into the water. She reached out for it and poked it. The glass rotated and she smiled at it lazily before realising that she really fucking needed some air. Being under water was like being in an entirely different universe at the moment, where everything just went in slow-motion.

Her head broke through the surface and she gasped for air a bit too early, causing some water to flow into her trachea and block the flow of oxygen. She began to sputter and cough, but still tried to smile through it.

When she succeeded against the water trying to make its way into her lungs, Emily bent over the rim of the fountain, not far enough to dip her head in, and began laughing again.

"Shut up." Naomi grinned as she tapped the back of Emily's head. "Or I'll get you in here with me."

Emily head shot up suddenly at the challenge, eyes adopting a mischievous glow, "Will you now?"

Naomi got up on her hands and knees, collar of her sweater dipping lower because of the weight of the water. She saw Emily's stance falter as her eyes dipped briefly to look at the skin of her chest that was now exposed. Naomi smirked, "I guarantee it." Emily squinted and shot the blonde an adorably innocent smile before taking off towards the other side of the fountain.

Naomi's mouth hung open for a moment, not expecting that Emily would just run away, before she tried getting up. She flailed slightly, slipping on the bottom of the fountain that wasn't made for feet to walk on. She fell for the second time and then gripped the edge of the pool as a support.

Finally succeeding in standing up and getting herself out of the fountain, she recovered quickly from the shock of the cold night's air against her soaked clothing, then she took the same steps as Emily to the other side of the large rounded statue.

Emily had been waiting on the other side and when she saw Naomi emerge from the opposite end, she screamed and started running again.

Naomi could hear Emily's uneven laughter being carried by the wind and it pushed her to catch up. She fought against her own giggle fit trying to make its way up from her diaphragm to focus on catching up to Emily. There was no way she was going to do that if her lungs were struggling with the amount of air laughing and running at the same time took.

Emily weaved her way though the rows of lamps, her hair being the only sign hinting at where she was that Naomi could see.

Each orb of light was blinding. They were disorienting her and making her dizzy. She thought she was seeing Emily everywhere. Hearing her raspy laughter drifting into her ears from every direction. She just kept running, following the faint sounds of Emily's light footsteps. Her composure finally collapsed and she began chuckling through her attempts at following Emily.

Finally, _finally_, she caught up to the smaller girl, who was hunched over, gasping for breath.

Naomi mirrored her movements and they made eye contact as their breathy laughter slowly subsided into quick breathing.

Emily was standing straight suddenly and Naomi looked up at her. The blinding lights now playing around with the bright glow of Emily's hair were making it look like she had a shape shifting halo on her head. Sometimes the ring was large and sometimes it looked smaller, but she could see it always there. She laughed at the light that was making Emily look like she descended from the sky. Another detail she couldn't help but notice was how stunningly the light hit Emily's face. The shadows contrasting with the soft orange glow just made her more light-headed. It drew her forward.

Breathing still erratic from the exertion of running, she straightened herself and walked towards Emily.

The second the blonde thought she had completely restored her air flow, Emily, the sneaky thief that she is, swindled it straight from her mouth by simply brushing her lips lightly against Naomi's.

She felt the simple action encase her completely. Emily's lips returned for a second time, a tad more roughly than before, but enough for it to catch Naomi off guard. The redhead smirked into the kiss and then she slipped her tongue into Naomi's mouth.

Despite all of the damp clothing hanging off of her body and the cold wind whipping against both girls, Naomi felt warm. Something spread from her chest, to her stomach and lifted her up into a completely natural high. Fuck the cold. Fuck the fuckers. Fuck the police.

She was happy.

"Excuse me?"

She heard a voice ask. Ignoring it, she continued to breathe in everything that was Emily. But then she heard it again. It was a man.

She broke away from abruptly and looked off to the side.

A man dressed in a navy blue uniform was standing before them, looking a bit embarrassed at having to interrupt them.

"Sorry.." he paused and looked between them before continuing, "We got a complaint about a disturbance in this area. Some screaming. Was it you two?"

Naomi shrugged, but she felt suspicious now that she knew this was a cop.

"I'll let you off with a warning. Go home." he said.

She turned at the dismissal and began walking towards the case of beer.

"Wait a minute!" she heard him call.

_Shit._

They were probably still looking for the culprits from the painting and the huge fight that it caused. They probably had her description from whoever called in.

She walked a bit faster towards Emily, who was strolling a few feet to her right, pretending she didn't hear him call at them again.

When she reached Emily she whispered, "We have to run, okay? When I say go…"

"One…"

"Excuse me, could you stop walking please?"

"Two…" she sped up. She heard the cop's footsteps increase in speed as well. They were too close now.

"Fuck! Go!"

They ran down the steps as efficiently as they could for two drunk kids. Emily tripped over the last step, but managed to stay upright, allowing Naomi to get a few feet ahead of her.

Naomi couldn't help the many flashbacks that tumbled around in her mind of she and Will having to do this so many times. She smiled up at the sky.

"Come on, Em!"

She heard a breathless "Fuck you!" from Emily and slowed her pace.

When Emily caught up Naomi grabbed her hand and they ran together.

She could hear the cop yelling behind them and she wracked her brain to remember any shortcuts they could to get the fuck away more quickly. They crossed a familiar road and Naomi pushed Emily into the first alleyway they came across.

She kept nudging the smaller girl forward, trying to encourage her to go faster.

"I got it!" Emily said, irritated.

She was then pushed behind a dumpster with Naomi crouching beside her.

It was an obvious place to hide. But it was so obvious that the cop wouldn't think that they were dumb enough to actually try hiding behind it.

Naomi giggled when she saw the cop run right past the alleyway.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, waiting for it to be safe to come out of their hiding spot.

Naomi stood and made a face as she looked down at her soaked clothing, this time not enjoying the way everything felt super heavy.

"We should get you home and changed." Emily said while getting up. "That's probably really uncomfortable."

"Yeah right, you just want a reason to undress me."

Emily just smirked in response, not denying the statement.

Naomi accepted the hand that was being held up to help her up and they began the long walk back to the car.

The drive back to Naomi's apartment was silent. Alcohol wearing off, Naomi was calm and her mind whirring with all of the possibilities she felt she had now that there wasn't any constricting weight pressing onto her back.

She absent-mindedly tapped the steering wheel when she was at a stoplight. Emily's hand came to cover hers briefly to halt the nervous twitch. Naomi smiled down at the tiny hand and her eyes followed it when it returned to Emily's side.

A few minutes later and they were out of the car and heading into the building they'd spent so much time in together for the past few months.

Naomi unlocked the door and stepped inside, flicking on the light in the hallway. She went straight to her room, dying to remove her wet clothes.

She heard her bedroom door shut behind her and realised that Emily had been close behind.

The room was dark, but she could feel Emily inching closer. She felt the weight of a hand through her thick sweater. Felt it slide lower until it slipped underneath. It was colder from being outside than the damp material was. A second hand joined the first on her body by placing itself on her hip. Both hands glided upward across her skin, bunching the sweater up like they wanted it gone. Naomi smiled into the darkness. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

The hands drifted ever higher until they were lifting both her shirt and sweater off of her body. She heard the soft thud of the weighty clothes hit the floor before the she felt arms wrap around her torso and hands laying flat on her front, fingers stretching across her ribs and stomach.

"Everything." came the low reply, closer to her ear than she'd anticipated. The breath across her bare neck made her shiver. The hands trailed higher until they were poised right under the curve of her breasts. She nodded, assuming that the girl behind her would get it. She did.

Hands slithered up into her bra, palming and kneading her chest. Her breathing hitched with every squeeze and she felt like she was going to pass out from the anticipation when one hand moved to her back to unhook the support.

It fell away, immediately forgotten when nimble fingers began lightly tweaking her nipples. She felt Emily's mouth on the side of her neck, then teeth grazing her shoulder and she tilted her head to the other side, allowing Emily room to move.

She then realised that the sweater Emily was wearing was rubbing against her naked back, and that was irritating for multiple reasons. One being that she was standing here half naked whilst the redhead was still completely dressed. She shrugged Emily off and turned in her arms. Emily's hands fell to her waist.

Naomi's eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she could see Emily's pair shining before her. She looked into them and silently reached for the bottom of her sweater. She removed Emily's shirt at the same time, only momentarily breaking eye contact.

They stared each other down, even as Naomi's hands worked to remove Emily's bra.

It came off and they immediately gravitated towards each other, embracing one another and feeling every inch of skin that was being touched catch fire.

Naomi pulled away to place a tentative kiss on Emily's lips. It lingered and she felt the redhead's lips move delicately in return, hardly touching the blonde's lips. That was the last slow second that would leave them suspended before their mouths reconnected, teeth clashing, tongues rolling and hands grabbing at any available skin.

She felt herself being pushed backwards rather roughly, but right before her legs hit the bed she was twirled around by Emily again. She wondered what the fuck the girl was doing and huffed at the separation of their mouths. Emily giggled behind her. Every ounce of annoyance dissipated when she felt lips flit across her shoulder blade, then her spine and a hand trace the beginning of her jeans. She immediately noticed the tell-tale feeling between her legs. A feeling that had often been induced by Emily, but never had she let herself or anyone do anything about it. Until now. And Emily was taking her sweet fucking time popping open the button. She rolled her shoulders back, feeling the practically unbearable friction of Emily's soft tits pressing against her, and prepared to grab the redhead's hand and force her to go faster.

But Emily knew her every move. She found her left hand being pulled behind her to rest on Emily's neck, while her right hand was shocked into place and fell lightly over the redhead's hand that was about to undo the zipper of her jeans.

"Don't even think about it." Emily's breathless, commanding voice meandered into her ear. The pulsation vibrated straight from her eardrum to the lower part of her body, making her knees go weak. Her grip tightened on Emily's neck as she writhed under the hands that began moving again, undoing the zipper on her pants and slipping down into her underwear.

Naomi threw her head back against the smaller girl's shoulder, pulling her closer and jerking her hips to try and get the satisfaction that Emily was with-holding from her. The fingers hovering directly over her clit swept down once, twice, before pausing again. The pattern in Naomi's breathing was already nonexistent, but she managed to stutter out "Fuck you." in response to the redhead's earlier command.

Teeth bit hard on her pulse point, then the gentle strokes of an experienced tongue made it better. She sighed, then cried out as fingers unexpectedly dipped into her wetness to rub firmly against her clit, matching every caress of the tongue on her neck.

Naomi's hand buried itself in the back Emily's hair, tugging as result of the building pressure the redhead was creating.

Then suddenly the hand was gone and she was being pushed again. She fell forward into her sheets and was bombarded by the familiar lavender scent she usually slept in.

She pushed herself up and turned to tell Emily that this game was making her too fucking dizzy, but her words died in her throat.

Emily was before her, wearing absolutely nothing.

"Ah…" was all the blonde was able to get out before Emily began sauntering towards her. As a reflex, she scooted backwards onto the bed until she reached the pillows, unsure of what Emily was still trying to pull.

Then it hit her.

Emily was totally owning her.

For all the years of chasing Naomi made her do, she was purposely drawing this out until the blonde was ready to spontaneously combust.

Emily crawled onto the bed, smirking at Naomi. She moved inch by slow inch until she came to hover right over Naomi, face to face.

Naomi got the impression that Emily was like a lion claiming its territory and all she could do was cower before her as she took possession of what belonged to her.

Then Emily simply smiled at her and the atmosphere changed completely.

She was gentle while she pulled the remainder of Naomi's clothing off, trailing kisses up and down her thighs whenever she could. She moved back up and brushed some hair behind Naomi's ear, looking into the blue eyes that had been following each and every one of her movements. She brushed her knuckles over the bruising on Naomi's face and leaned forward to coax the blonde into an intense lip lock. Whilst tongues conquered one another, Emily's thigh fell between the artist's legs and she pushed against her centre, stacking the layers of need inside Naomi until the blonde had to roll her hips and beg Emily to relieve the tension.

Naomi felt she was undulating pathetically underneath her lover and Emily could tell by the way her eyes closed and her brow furrowed.

"Naomi…" Emily enticed, delicately dragging her nails down Naomi's side.

"Yeah…" came the reply, the blonde's hands gripping Emily's hips and making them thrust in time with her own.

"It's okay to want this." Emily replied as she grabbed one of Naomi's hands to intertwine their fingers. She kissed down the blonde's throat and between the valley of her breasts.

"It's okay to need me." the redhead stated when she rested her chin on the blonde's stomach. She didn't move until Naomi opened her eyes and bit her lip, nodding.

Emily moved ever lower and said "I want you to watch me."

Naomi licked her lips, still panting as she shook her head with the affirmative response. She brought the hand that wasn't being held up to Emily's face to trace a line from her earlobe to her chin. She knew that Emily wasn't being up herself, but wanted Naomi to witness the completely genuine feelings that were about to be expressed.

So Naomi kept her eyes trained on Emily as she lowered her head between the blonde's legs. Even when her eyes rolled briefly due to the shock waves that Emily was sending through her body, they came back around to gaze at every move Emily made with her tongue.

With every ripple that brought her higher, she felt something stir inside her that she couldn't quite place. Something that was unfairly unfamiliar to the blonde. Something that pushed away every tiny inkling of fear.

As Emily's fingers entered her and Naomi's hips jerked wildly, the blonde felt something on the tip of her tongue.

That's why when her world exploded around her and every building that was formed to house the emotions she couldn't handle collapsed, she pulled Emily up, the redhead's fingers still buried inside her, and muttered the few words that her brain could finally comprehend.

"I fucking love you."

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**Reviews will be answered when I get home from work, I'm really pressed for time :)**

**Peace, yo.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hello, I hope if you're reading this that you are well. I have to apologise, I really did not intend to leave everyone hanging for over a month. I've been working on this little by little ever since chapter 25 was posted. **

**I did not neglect it. It's just been coming more slowly.**

**Mosy of my time right now is work, work, work. Whether it's at that grocery store or things I've been volunteering for, it has just been sucking up my time. Also, when I do have free time, nowadays it's often spent with one of my friends who has been struggling quite a bit, so even if we are sitting in a room saying nothing and doing nothing and basically just staring at each other or the wall, it takes up all the time I would otherwise have to write.**

**This was originally going to be the last chapter, but I decided to split it to give you guys something. The other half is not written and to be honest I have no idea how long it will take. But I know exactly what is going to happen, if that's any comfort. So loves, hang in there, because I am not abandoning this baby. It will have an ending.**

**I warn that for the first part of this chapter, there are stupid ass stereotypes that are spewed and they are kind of funny but can also be annoying, I guess.**

* * *

_Fouf's was the last place on earth she wanted to be. Especially with these people. She didn't feel like associating with anyone, so how was Cook able to convince her to come to this stupid little get together was beyond her._

_She was seated at a table surrounded by Freddie, Cook and Effy. All giggling drunkenly while she just leaned her chin on the table's surface and rolled her eyes._

_She watched a tiny drop of condensation from one of their cold beers roll down the glass of the bottle, leaving a watery trail behind while most of the other areas around it were still a little frosty. On any other day she would have been happy to join them but tonight…tonight just felt a little eerie. Like something was purposefully dragging her out of her house to let something pop off. Forcing something into motion. She didn't know what, she just knew she wanted to get the fuck out of the place. So of course when she was about to get up and leave, the three other at the table had to stand and loudly welcome the newly arrived guests._

_"Ah, fuck," she said under her breath and leaned back against her seat. Slouching into it as much as possible to try and hide herself from view._

_She could see the redhead from here, smiling that dazzling smile of hers and greeting her friend with such enthusiasm that it made Naomi wonder if she was faking it. She knew in the back of her mind that it was a dumb thought. Emily was a genuine person and she didn't greet people like that all the time. She was just nice…unlike herself. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for anyone to spot her, hoping that they wouldn't._

_As soon as that thought was completed, Emily turned her head in Naomi's direction. Her face dropped slightly in surprise, but then another emotion covered it completely. She stared at Naomi and the blonde stared back. All the intoxication around the two girls put aside to allow them to have their tiny moment. Emily very obviously looked her up and down, even though the table was in the way of her view. Then she was moving toward her and Naomi began to panic._

_Her thoughts were swirling around each other, trying to mesh together the best plan to get out of the situation she was about to be in. It was going to be incredibly awkward._

_Okay so after the embarrassing and very obvious way she had been avoiding Emily in that one class during first semester, she'd dropped any courses that had even an inkling of a chance that Emily would be in them. She had hardly seen any of her friends, she'd stayed in and done her work. Had it been immature to go to such lengths to avoid someone who wouldn't hurt a fly? Maybe. But she didn't really care._

_And that's why when even third semester arrived, she'd seen Emily on the first day, with the rest of the gang, she had gotten her ass out of there as quickly as possible._

_It was easy to avoid people when you didn't speak or go out. But eventually they all just ganged up on her, which is how she ended up here._

_And maybe it was a little ridiculous because not seeing Emily for two semesters meant that Naomi had even wasted a summer by herself, which was kind of depressing. Shit. Where the fuck had the time gone? It hadn't felt that long._

_Maybe someone had drugged her for the entirety of the time and her perception of time had become incredibly fucked up._

_Or maybe she had been kidnapped and the experience had been so terrible that she had to ask someone to erase her memory of the past year, kind of like that hot spy she'd seen on reruns of that show…what was it called?_

_Fuck, she couldn't remember._

_But that was a good and perfectly plausible excuse, right? Yeah. She was going to use that._

_Then Emily was in front of Naomi with her cute smile and less than innocent eyes and sexy array of clothing and her red hair and it was too much to witness for not seeing her in over a year. Some embarrassing noises emerged from her mouth as she tried to formulate the sentences that would get her out of that bar safely and then her mouth hung open for a moment like she'd been dazed. She felt stupid over panicking about something so…stupid. So to cover it up, she blurted something she knew would get Emily away._

_She slammed her fist on the table and stood abruptly, "So how's the rug munching going?"_

_Emily furrowed her brow in alarm and almost everyone in the establishment turned to look. She saw Emily about to open her mouth in response, but Naomi beat her to the punch once again, "You big bulldyke, I bet you came here on a big gay motorcycle."_

_She grabbed the beer that Cook had left behind to greet the twins and she chugged it. Usually people drank before speaking to someone so they could tell them how they really felt. She was drinking to give her the courage to go through with her own plans of being a complete fucking asshole._

_People around them were holding back their laughter at the scene. She could tell by the way the ends of their mouths crinkled awkwardly and how they looked away for a moment to gather their bearings before taking a glance at the scene again._

_She removed the bottle from her mouth and walked a few feet towards Emily acting more drunk than she already was, "I wouldn't be friends with a scissor slut, ha!" she let out a ridiculously fake and loud guffaw. The patrons in the room broke down, she could hear them chuckling at her act. The she looked at Emily properly and she almost broke down. The girl looked so incredibly upset. She was on the verge of tears, for sure, but the blonde kept going, "You nasty little…" there was a pause where she couldn't really think of an insult, "Clitty-licker!"_

_Wow, that was weak._

_She shoved her way past Emily, ignoring the gulp of air she could hear from the redhead. People only breathed like that when they were crying._

_"Cunt waaagon!" she said while walking backwards, beer in her hand to keep the image of an inebriated someone. She was about to take the last step out of the door, but felt that she needed one more shitty insult to make it work. She looked around for aid and saw someone eating a muffin by their lonesome at a table on her left._

_"Slut muffin!" and she was out the door seconds later. She took a seat on the curb of the road. She heard footsteps emerge from the bar. They were quick and hasty and light. Unmistakeably Emily's._

_Naomi listened to them fade. And then she heard nothing._

_Nothing made noise anymore. Not the voice in her head. Not her beating heart._

_Everything was just empty._

**ooo**

She kissed Emily just below her hip and watched the smaller girl squirm beneath her.

"Stop that, it tickles."

Naomi grinned into soft skin and kissed it once more just to irritate her lover before moving back up and settling herself on top of Emily. She reached lower for the duvet that had fallen somewhere around her waist and she lifted it up over their heads to cover them in darkness.

"Hey, I can't see you now."

Emily chuckled, "Well what did you expect?"

Naomi lifted part of the material up slightly on one side. The early morning light seeped into the dome and the blonde was able to see the light reflected in Emily's eyes. "There you are." she smiled.

"You're such a dork underneath it all."

"Sh, don't tell."

She felt hands smooth themselves over her back and fingers trace her spine. She shivered and sealed their shelter by dropping the comforter once again.

"Em, we're in a spaceship."

Emily laughed and rested her hands against the small of Naomi's back. She hummed for a moment before speaking, "You know, I..." she paused mid-sentence, like what she was about to say was difficult.

Naomi leaned down and kissed whichever part of Emily's face her lips came in contact with. This happened to be her nose. She felt it crinkle under her affection. A sigh escaped her lips before she spoke, "What is it? No point in being shy all of a sudden, Em. You haven't really been since the day I met you." she laughed to herself, thinking of all the times in the past when she would shrink away because Emily was being so straightforward.

"It's just…fuck…this is so surreal!" the redhead exclaimed. Naomi could feel the energy emanating from Emily's body. Her excitement over the night's events was adorable. The blonde slipped the cover off again so she could see Emily's face.

"You're adorable, you know that?"

"As a matter of fact…I do." Emily grinned.

"Your modesty kills me. But I guess if you weren't so up yourself we wouldn't be here right now."

"No, we would still be here even if I hadn't lifted a finger."

Naomi rested her right elbow on the part of the mattress beside Emily's face. "How, exactly?" she let her head fall into her hand and she waited for Emily's answer.

"Because you simply can't resist me. I am irresistible. Especially to you. If you tried to pull away you would somehow end up running back towards me. I am an endless cycle that replays itself in your life and mind and you will never, ever escape." Emily inserted her own maniacal laughter at the end of the sentence.

"How long have you been waiting to say that?"

"Not long, I'm just really good at talking out of my ass."

"Now _that_, I can agree with. But I am also a professional when it comes to that so we are evenly matched."

Emily smiled widely and Naomi couldn't help but stare. With her cheek squished lazily against her hand she took in the shine in Emily's eyes; the playful twinkles that had always been present when she was joking around with the blonde. More than that, the warmth and heat that breathed through the irises like magma that flowed beneath the earth's surface, ready to forcefully emerge from its chasm. Emily's eyes had always acted as a conduit to Naomi. When Emily's body language was cold, her eyes would act everything out for her. When her words didn't carry any ounce of truth, her eyes would compromise her straight away. She'd always been able to tell when she should flee because of Emily's eyes. Whenever things got too hot - too serious. Though she tried to fight it, she knew she was toast since the beginning. The force was always too strong. That pull eventually allowed each of their diverging lives to converge and result in the most breathtaking eruption either of them have ever experienced.

And that left them lying together in Naomi's bed, enjoying each other's company, previous insecurities now dormant deep inside their brains.

"Why did you say 'everything' when I asked you what you were doing?" Naomi asked suddenly, her confusion around the answer resurfacing as she thought back.

"Well…" Emily began, looking up at the ceiling before looking at Naomi again, "At that moment I was doing everything I wanted to do. I was holding you and touching you and connecting with you…and loving you. And it was mutual. _Is_ mutual. And in that moment it was everything. I felt complete after so much time having been spent pining." she sighed and looked at the window, "That sounds kind of pathetic, doesn't it?"

Naomi touched her fingers to Emily's cheek softly, waiting for the redhead's gaze to land on her again. When it did, she frowned, "Hey…" her thumb picked up the tiny droplets of water that were gathering on Emily's face, "Don't cry." The blonde leaned forward and placed a kiss on the redhead's lips, the water from the brown orbs having made a stream all the way down to the redhead's mouth. The salty taste reminded Naomi of the sea. Emily was her sea. All consuming and life providing. Naomi was just the anchor in the massive, impressive abyss. "You're brave and strong and you're the most determined person I know. I don't think that's the least bit pathetic. That you had the patience to deal with me at all is proof. I was the cause of so much trouble for you. And you stuck around anyway. Even when I was an ass."

Emily's laugher broke through the watery veil. Naomi grinned and tapped the redhead's nose with her index finger.

"Oh…Do you want ice or something…for your face?" She asked, looking sheepish because she'd forgotten to ask earlier.

"No…A bit late now… and I'd forgotten that it was pounding before you brought it up, so thanks for that."

Naomi smirked, "Sorry. If it's any consolation, mine hurts too."

Emily leaned up and swiftly kissed Naomi's nose, "No, that just makes me sad." Emily pouted.

"Oh, sorry. I'll try not to get punched in the face ever again."

"Good."

There was a moment of silence, in which they just looked at each other, as if trying to make sense of how they really got there. Naomi felt the need to reach out and touch Emily. Her fingers fell upon the redhead's forehead and followed an imaginary line down the side of her face, knuckles then brushing her cheek. She uncurled her fist and let the pad of her middle finger take a turn towards Emily's mouth, tracing her bottom lip. Emily closed her eyes and opened her mouth slightly. Naomi felt the soft, shallow breaths against the palm of her hand. She paused and let her hand tremble over the mouth. Feeling like Emily's breath was flowing through her veins by means of the pores in her hand and making everything incredibly warm. She wondered if she should remove the duvet that had fallen to rest around her lower back, but decided against it, even with the heat coming from both of them. She rather enjoyed the feeling of the material on her back with Emily's hands underneath it, the redhead lightly dragging her nails across the skin.

The blonde's hand continued travelling, down Emily's neck, watching her swallow and then sigh as response. She felt like she was conducting an experiment, watching which movements got which reaction from the girl below her. She loved it.

Other friends often found it weird how much she loved just watching people. It was the most fascinating thing. And having Emily at the tip of her fingers to observe and touch freely was the most wondrous thing she could ever experience.

She reached Emily's chest and put a light pressure on it, feeling the quaking heart underneath skin and bone. A contrast to the calm and relaxed exterior of the girl being swallowed by the bed.

Naomi let her eyes stray from the chest she was touching and back to Emily's face, noting that the light resting on it wasn't as bright as she wanted it to be. The brightest star hadn't emerged from the clouds when earth had done its turn, but it didn't deter her from finding the dismal lighting quite beautiful in the way it adhered to Emily's features. The way the shadows reformed even with the tiniest movement made Naomi think that a story was playing out on Emily's skin. One that included mythical animals shape shifting across the smooth expanse of the redhead's visage; a halcyon flying high above everyone else, making sure to lead them the right way when they needed it.

The blonde was one of the ones that followed. She trailed it until she came to the edge of a cliff and it swooped down so that she was able to grab it by the talons. Complete trust into letting her weight be carried by the small bird.

She smiled at the tale being played out in her head.

She kept her view trained on Emily's closed eyes as her hand moved lower, smoothing across the girl's breast to her ribs, carefully counting them until her fingers couldn't feel the protective arches anymore. She dragged her nails past the hip until her hand came to the final slope. Her hand dipped and she watched Emily gasp when her fingers hit the girl's centre.

Naomi's middle and index fingers ventured even lower, immersing themselves in the redhead and feeling the girl coat the fingers. The blonde's breathing picked up as she started off slowly, Emily hugging her fingers as she leaned down and kissed the redhead.

She felt like she was providing Emily's oxygen as her hand worked that tiny bit faster, making the other girl's hips roll more roughly into her hand. Naomi broke the kiss and dropped her head to the crook of Emily's neck, wanting to listen to the sharp intakes of breath as they grew more and more ragged.

Hands were now on her upper back, clutching her as tightly as they could. Gripping her like they couldn't quite comprehend that she was there to stay. Then the nails digging into her skin. Every tiny, crescent shaped graze stamped itself into her skin to tell her that she was no longer only half illuminated, but the girl writhing underneath her was lighting her up inside to her full potential.

Her arm worked faster, muscles tearing into themselves to do whatever it took to fill the other person below her.

Emily's revved breathing transitioned to a guttural groan, keeping up with the constant and swiftly changing gears of the woman on top of her.

The breathless moans in Naomi's ear were becoming more frequent, the burn in her arm heightening, the ache of the tender skin on her back making her impetuous.

Then Emily began muttering sweet fucking nothing into her ear and the blonde responded by kissing her neck. Her teeth descended onto the soft skin, driving Emily to claw at her back one last hard time before lodging her nails into the flesh and staying there.

Naomi's thigh joined the wave, allowing her to reach deeper and more into her lover, wanting to devastate Emily the same way the redhead had done to her.

Because the blonde was completely open and naked - the city she'd spent so long building to shelter herself had been completely laid to waste. The frontier, the traps, the barriers had all been crushed and everything inside had been raided to allow her to open her eyes to her own personal revolution.

She only wanted to see Emily completely. Even the most open people have a veil. This was the last layer between them and she fucking wanted it gone.

Naomi lifted her head just as Emily's eyes fluttered opened and the last thrust was given.

She watched Emily's eyes roll back, watched her swim and play between every ripple of pleasure as her own city was torn down.

Naomi hand slowed but her gaze was locked on Emily. When the brown of the redhead's eyes finally emerged to connect with her own blue, she felt like she was being transported somewhere else entirely. It was like Emily's metropolis had engulfed her. Everything around them sounded like white static except their own breathing.

They were finally connected and on the same level. Drifting and only aware of each other.

**o**

"You have to get to the community centre." Freddie's voice shouted at her through the receiver.

"Why?"

"I completely fucking forgot with all this stuff going on with Will, there's that group playing there today, do you remember?"

Naomi wracked her brain until she came across a memory from months ago when she discussed going to the very same thing that Freddie was referring to. "Shit…Okay I'll be there, there's no way in hell I'm missing that."

"Sweet. I'll see you there then."

She hung up and took one last drag from her smoke before stabbing it against the railing of the balcony and throwing it down below.

She entered her room to find Emily tinkering around with her sound system.

"Em?"

"Hmmm?" the redhead replied while running her finger along the edge of one of the many records lined up on a shelf beside one of the speakers.

"Freddie just reminded me that I've been planning to attend something since over a month ago today…and I really want to go. You can come though."

Emily's hand froze as she turned her head towards Naomi, "Okay." she replied, with a tiny pleased smile overtaking her features afterward.

"All right."

They moved around the room, getting dressed properly…or well enough to be seen in public, at least, with Emily wearing clothes too big for her because she didn't want to wear the ones from the day before so she had to borrow Naomi's…again.

They were in the doorway when the blonde commented on it.

"You're going to own my entire wardrobe by the end of the year." she said, leaning on the wall and trying to pull her shoes on without undoing the laces.

"Good. They're comfortable…when I'm not tripping over them or getting lost in them."

Naomi smirked and opened the door to let them out, but of course they were interrupted.

"Naomi…" Gina called from her bedroom. Then blonde could hear her making her way towards them.

"I'd like to ask you what this mess is on my door?"

Naomi shut the door and looked at the swirling design she'd drawn days earlier when she'd gotten bored.

"Ummm…"

"And in the living room there is a very noticeable painting on the wall…"

"Ha…." Naomi lifted her hand and rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

"It's nice.". her mum filled in quickly, smiling.

The blonde dropped her hand and said "Thanks, mum." she looked down at her shoes.

"What happened to my snarky girl? Did she disappear in the last twenty four hours?"

"I've whipped her into shape." Emily smiled while looking at Naomi, whose head shot up. "Shut up, both of you."

"That was short-lived." Gina responded. She turned around and walked back down the hallway, "Anyway…have a good time…wherever it is that you're going." she waved them off.

They exited the apartment minutes later, the fresh air hitting them the second they stepped outside. There was a slight fog hanging in the air and Naomi was squinting because despite being covered by the clouds, the sun still made it a bit too bright for her eyes.

"Whoa…" she covered her eyes with her hands.

"Come on." her hand was taken away from her face by Emily, who held it and pulled her along the sidewalk to begin their way towards wherever she felt like bringing them.

"Where are we going?" Naomi questioned, trotting slightly behind the smaller girl.

"Well we have a few hours to kill before seeing Freddie, so might as well do something. I want to see a movie."

They walked together until they arrived in front of some large doors, where on the other side Naomi could see the already huge queue to get tickets.

She watched Emily trying to push the door opened and laughed when she was only able to push it a few centimetres. The blonde laid her palm flat against the wood forced it opened.

"I don't understand why they would make those stupid doors so heavy, do they realise how many people pass through them daily?" Emily complained, embarrassed and red in the face.

"It's okay little one, you will one day be able to push open a door."

Emily dragged her into a line and they waited with everybody else. Naomi looked down at their joined hands for a minute before looking up and catching some other person's eye. They looked away quickly to make it look like they hadn't been staring. Naomi looked around and felt like so many other people had their eyes on them and she began to feel something making her stomach turn. Nerves suddenly made her hands feel clammy and when Emily squeezed her hand she pulled it away and wiped it on her pants, but didn't return it to Emily's hold. They weren't in the sheltered safety of her bedroom anymore. She turned in the line and faced the front, hearing her name being said softly. Ignored it. Then a hand was on her shoulder and a voice in her ear in harmony with the voice in her head.

"What's wrong, Nai?"

The hand slid down her arm until it reached her own and it intertwined their fingers again.

"I feel like everyone's staring at us."

They both moved up a bit in the line.

"Well maybe they are, but you have to stop assuming that it's with bad intention," Emily said while stepping beside her, their hands still connected at her side. She waited for Naomi to catch her eye, "It's because we're sexy." a cheeky smile plastered itself to her face.

Naomi laughed loudly and after her outburst the smile on her face didn't let up because she was too busy watching Emily laugh. Her smile eclipsed the annoying people staring and she couldn't give a crap if they looked at them at all anymore.

They finally reached the front and got their tickets, then they ran up the escalators, even thought there was a significant amount of time before the movie started.

Emily purchased a bag of popcorn despite Naomi incessantly commenting on how expensive it was and how the redhead was wasting her money by buying it from the cinema.

They made their way into the theatre and sat in the very back to watch all the other people pile in. They sometimes giggled at the public's awkward indecision; how they would stand in front of one row of seats then pivot seconds later because they couldn't decide which row was "better".

Finally the lights dimmed and Naomi rolled her eyes because she didn't actually want to be inside. She wanted to be outside. But then she looked at Emily and she was reminded that all she wanted to do was spend time with her. She didn't want anymore of it wasted on fighting it.

Her eyes never left Emily for the entire first half of the movie. She watched the numerous lighting changes in the movie play across Emily's face and light it up. The twinkle in Emily's eyes reflected every frame of the motion picture and transitioned from joy to sorrow in time with the film, like a reel with hundreds of tiny photos curled around it.

She got the sudden urge to look into Emily's eyes.

"Em…" she whispered. The redhead ignored her.

"Eeeeem" a little louder.

Naomi noticed the slight twitch in amusement on the other girl's cheek, holding back a smile.

She swiftly grabbed the popcorn bag from Emily, some of the puffed up kernels flying in all directions as she pulled it from Emily's grasp. She looked into the oversized paper bag and grabbed a handful and stuffed it into her mouth, crunching it loudly just to try and annoy the redhead to get her attention. Emily leaned her elbow on the armrest that was furthest away from Naomi and continued watching the screen.

Naomi swallowed and grabbed more of the snack. She glanced at the handful before throwing it at Emily. The majority of the bits bounced off Emily, but some got lodged in the folds of her clothing and in her lap. One landed on top of her head. Emily sighed and picked it off her head. She threw it onto the ground and continued brushing Naomi off.

The blonde finally relented and sat back into her seat, still munching on the popcorn. Eventually she dropped the bag onto the floor and leaned towards Emily. She flicked the a piece of popcorn off the redhead's upper thigh before flattening her hand against it and letting it ride it's way higher. The closer she leaned, the further away Emily moved her upper body until she couldn't anymore.

Naomi grinned and kissed the redhead's cheek before muttering "Come on, Em." against her ear. She felt the smaller girl squirm slightly, and she pressed her lips against Emily's neck. A shudder wracked Emily's body, despite her efforts to combat it. Naomi continued teasing her and brushing her lips over any exposed skin of the girl's neck. Naomi felt Emily's shoulders trying to shrug her off, but it didn't deter her. She just laughed, her breath gliding over the redhead's skin and not helping Emily get any less flustered.

"Naomi, unlike you, I'm actually trying to watch this goddamn movie." her attempt at sounding stern failed when the blonde disregarded her protests and allowed her lips to flutter around the corner of Emily's mouth. All Emily could do was finally respond to Naomi.

She lifted a hand and curled her fingers around Naomi's neck and pulled her close, so that their lips were hovering mere millimetres apart.

Naomi could feel the redhead's steady breath against her lips and she could feel her own coming out short and a bit ragged. She felt slightly stupid for getting herself so worked up basically on her own. But she shook the thought away and tried to capture Emily's lips in her own, only to have her move just out of reach again and again.

She could practically feel Emily smiling in amusement. Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, the smaller girl allowed her to lean forward and engage her in a rough kiss. Their tongues clashed and Naomi felt the fire in the lower part of body explode. Her hand moved from Emily thigh to rest on the girl's shoulder while her hand cupped the redhead's face and brought her as close as it possibly could.

One of Emily's hand skimmed over the side of the blonde's body and stopped to rest on her hip. When it snuck under her shirt and she felt the cool fingers on her warm skin, stroking the curve of her hip, she jerked into the chair as if trying to drive herself through the armrest to get on top of Emily.

Both of Emily's hands were on her bare back now, pulling her, while Emily's mouth still worked in synch with her own. The redhead broke the kiss for a moment to tilt her head in the other direction before reattaching their lips. Naomi allowed her hand to slip under the back collar of Emily's shirt. The girl couldn't stop a low moan tumbling from her throat.

Naomi broke the kiss, "Sh." she scolded, smiling and letting her hand drift lower under the collar of the shirt, her fingers stretch across her the girl's back, bringing the redhead and her heat impossibly closer.

They were leaning in for another kiss when they heard an outburst of aggravated whispering coming from Naomi's side of the row, a few seats down.

Naomi's hands halted all movements, as did Emily's. The blonde strained her ears to hear over the surround sound of the film.

"…didn't come here to watch that…"

"…unacceptable…"

"…dirty, inconsiderate teenagers…"

Naomi huffed loudly and removed her hands from Emily's body. Emily frowned, catching the same parts of the phrases being spoken and thinking Naomi was going to bail on her.

The blonde stood, dusting off any excess popcorn before grabbing the bag she had previously discarded on the cinema's floor. She shook it lightly, piling all the contents left in the bag into a corner before looking in it for a moment. She bit her lip and look down the row. Her legs carried her until she was standing in front of the older women who had been complaining about she and Emily.

She held the bag at her side and looked at both women before sticking her hand out, "Hi, I'm Naomi."

When they both looked at her and didn't say a word, she retracted her hand and continued speaking, "To be quite frank, I think you should both go fuck yourselves." she smiled sweetly, "Or maybe fuck each other, it might relieve some of the angry tension I feel brewing around these parts." she squinted and lifted the bag slightly, "Did we turn you on a bit too much?" she cocked her head to the side, "I honestly think you should do something about it. I'm just trying to be nice and offer some good advice"

She walked back down the row and took hold of Emily's hand. While they walked past the women, Naomi threw the bag into the air and watched the popcorn and the kernels that had congregated at the bottom of it rain down on them.

They both exploded out of the theatre, running down the stairs, intent to get to the exit.

When they got outside, it was a bit colder. Any light that had been previously provided by the bright sky had shrunken into insignificance.

Naomi grinned and looked up, absolutely jonesing to get to the community centre with Emily, so they could be with the people they belonged with.

* * *

**_AllICanDoIsBeMe_, Aw! I'm really glad you enjoyed it, really. I was hoping it'd make people smile. Thanks for another drop.**

**_Vangoghgurrl_, Haha, I said weeks ago that I felt honoured to get this as a review. They are pretty lengendary. It still pleases me. Thanks again.**

**_13nikkicostas_, HEY! thank you so much! and thanks for leaving a few words :)**

**_ThaDarkSlayer_, hahahaha no, that couldn't have dampened it at all, really. And thank you for your niiiice words, girl. **

**_CrashKill_, Thank you! :D**

**_Jaelle90_, Aw, thanks. and love from Italy? Sweet, that means live from my ethnic homeland and that's totally rad.**

**_lumagoo1015_, I know, I couldn't believe it either ;) hahahaha, thanks for yet again dropping a review, it means a lot.**

**_HyperFitched_, The part at the fountain is one of my favourite things I've written for this, actually. So I'm really glad you enjoyed it. To be honest, I wrote the foundtain much prettier than it actually is, haha. You probably came across that exact area when in Old Montreal, it's impossible not to pass it at some point when you're roaming aorund down there. and that praising of my love scene just had my face turn red, just saying. and I AM quite proud of this thing. Thank you, thank you, thank you.**

**_starsdieout_, gah, thank you, again. I am over the moon at the praise it got, considering I was feeling sketchy about it. Thanks again.**

**_EmZ2009_, Haha, most likely if there's a specific place in the story, I've been there myself. Unfortunately I don;t have some great expansive imagination and these places are all very real, and I've been to every one of them - which is how I've been able to incorporate them into my story :) and thanks a mill for your lovely words about the chapter.**

**_jaxi_, hey! I know it's been a while, I went to reply to your review but realised I couldn't because it was anon. but thanks for dropping some concern and sorry for the wait.**

**_hrtbts_, Thank you, and sorry for the long wait. :)**

**Thanks to everyone who favoured and alerted, it put a big smile on my face despite being sad about not being able to update. So thank you.**

**Peace, everyone.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hi. Here it is. I don't know how I feel about this chapter. Sometimes I like it and sometimes I hate it. I hope that you enjoy it, though. (and hopefully it's not as disappointing as I think it is.)  
**

**Bah, this is for anyone who has lost a friend in any way, for anyone who has had a really good fucking night and can't remember shit, and finally, for anyone who is totally rad. Which you all are, so this is for you either way :)**

* * *

Every thump sounding from pedal hitting bass drum felt like it was pounding its way into her brain. She was finding her rhythm; something she had been doing since losing her friend.

She was clumsy; her steps a bit too heavy and her mind too distracted. As she looked down at her feet in apprehension, she realised that in a place like this, she should be able to just let go.

So, she takes in the people around her. There are many she doesn't know, some she recognises but can't put a name to and then, moving to the beat beside her, were her friends.

She smiled involuntarily as she studied Cook's offbeat, erratic movement and she laughed at Freddie's awkward head bobbing, thinking that to anyone else they'd look like huge dorks, but she realised that these tiny motions embodied a big part of their personalities. They were feeling the atmosphere and expressing it the way they wanted to, not giving a shit if anyone thought negatively about them. She admired that fact and without her conscious consent, her body started moving more fluidly. Seconds later, she turned her head and made eye contact with Effy, who winked at her and smiled a bit wickedly. Swallowed by the crowd, the brunette disappeared and Naomi once again searched for another direction to look in. She happened to turn and find someone dancing and facing her. She stared shamelessly, but not because she liked what she saw.

The kid was so young, with a huge smile on his face and he was into it more than everybody else around him. She could practically see the beat flowing through the soles of his feet, up his leg and through the top of his body. It was perfect. He laughed and she did the same because he was overtaking all of her senses in the strangest way. She couldn't explain it if she tried. The band were yelling something at the crowd, but it was all static. Her ears picked up the sudden change in rhythm emanating from the group of people that were creating the cadence. It was more aggressive, and the boy opened his eyes. She couldn't help herself as she looked at the kid with a smile and lifted her hand to point an index finger at the low ceiling of the room. He grinned and nodded his head. She moved forward and bent down, being cautious not to get kicked around by the people swaying surrounding her. With one knee bent and planted on the floor, she braced herself for the extra weight on her shoulders and upper back. She was forced forward slightly, but pushed herself off the floor with the boy on her shoulders.

The memory of Will was no longer something she dreaded and feared - but something she took into her stride and understood. As a result of this understanding, the frightened little child inside of her disappeared and was replaced with someone who had finally come into her own. Overcoming the grief allowed her to realise that Will's death had not been pointless, but it had been a necessary trial to allow her to grow up in a way that many people were unable to.

She used to wallow in it; the sorrow, the suffering, but only because it was familiar. Looking forward and past that stage meant looking into a future without Will. At the time, she hadn't been strong enough and keeping the grief attached to every particle of tissue she was made of had just been easier than trying to break through the thick shell she'd formed.

She tightened her grip on the boy's shins, not wanting to ever let him go. She moved unexpectedly and he jerked forward and his hands hit her head as reflex to stay upright. Her neck ached for a moment at the awkward angle before straightening again when he removed his hands.

Blue eyes looked around, content with just observing for the moment. They managed a double take when they caught sight of Emily trying to make her way through the large cluster of people.

Naomi stared, wondering if she should put the boy down before the redhead arrived or if she should keep him on her shoulders.

She chose the former, reasoning that her back was starting to feel numb, which meant that an ache was probably going to start if she didn't lower the extra weight soon.

She bent down as a signal indicating that the ride was over. He climbed off her and came around to her front. His face was still stretched into a smile and she briefly wondered if it hurt smiling that much.

Unexpectedly, he reached out and hugged her tightly around her waist. She was surprised; he was so open and candid. Her only valid option would be to return the crushing display of affection.

The embrace was over by the time Emily was standing before her.

"Who was that?" she asked, sipping water from a cup she must have gotten at some sort of refreshment stand.

"Just a cute kid." Naomi smiled.

Emily raised a brow in question, her nose and mouth obscured by the plastic.

The blonde looked away for a moment, "What?"

Emily lowered the cup and swallowed before speaking, "Nothing…You look really happy."

"Of course I do. You're here, after all." Naomi smirked as Emily rolled her eyes.

Emily passed the cup to Naomi, who lifted it to her mouth. When she was done, she crushed the cup and held it tightly in her fist.

"I feel like…I don't know…at peace." the blonde bit her lip, "That sounds stupid." she sighed.

"No, it definitely does not. It's taken you long to get here. We should fucking celebrate."

"We're at a show."

"Then why are you just standing here like a fucking lawn gnome?" Emily grabbed the cup and threw it onto the floor before grabbing Naomi's hand and leading her to the centre of the crowd.

"You need to dance with me. Properly."

"But…"

"Do you remember all the times I got you to dance with me before now?"

"Of course."

"Yeah, don't act that stiff ever again. Just _move_."

Naomi didn't have time to be offended as the mood of the crowd shifted once again in time with the beat that the band made.

Some guy near the drum kit started banging a rhythm on his big, stupid conga drums and Naomi had no idea what the hell she was supposed to do.

An interesting thought surfaced through her cluttered brain.

"If I succeed in fulfilling your request, you have to be out with me. All night. And we are going to tear shit up."

One of Emily's eyes opened. Still completely alert, she seemed like she'd become all too excited at the tone of challenge in Naomi's voice, "I accept."

**ooo**

Legs? Check.

Arms? Check.

Headache? Check.

She moved her fingers and felt the energy flow back into her body as she awoke.

The back of her head hit something as she tried to stretch her neck, it was feeling a bit sore. As she tried to move her limbs, she realised that they too were confined to a tiny amount of space. Her knees jerked up in surprise and hit another hard surface. She stretched her fingers and moved them around, feeling nothing familiar in texture stand out.

Blue eyes finally emerged from behind their curtains and took in everything that was to her right.

"What the fuck…" she muttered, as she was staring at a passenger's seat…which meant that she must be in a car.

The next thing she noticed was the temperature.

It was fucking freezing.

She began to panic, no knowledge being poured into her consciousness to explain why she was stuck in this tiny box-like vehicle. She squirmed until she was able to move her left hand to the handle on the door. Pushing it open, she immediately threw herself out of the cocoon.

Blonde hair fell in front of her face as she struggle to get up through her confusion. When she succeeded, she took a good look at the car she'd been in.

Now she knew why it had felt so small.

It was squashed from both ends, like two cars had smashed into it from two different directions.

And it had no fucking tires. Where the fuck were the tries? How did it even get here without tires?

She rotated on the spot. The only signs of life were trees that were almost bare because their leaves had fallen, as they did every year.

"I'm…in…a fucking forest?" she said to herself, bringing her hand up to her forehead, thinking that maybe she was hallucinating.

She twirled on the spot once again, trying to see if she could spot a road. There were none to be seen.

The car became the point of interest and she walked towards it. Her legs picked up the pace once she saw that there was a little piece of paper where she had been trapped.

She grabbed it and unfolded it.

"_You still have to run a bit more to catch up to me ;)_

_-E_

She smirked at the note, still having no clue what this all meant and how she ended up here in the first place.

She folded it and pocketed it.

A sigh escaped her lips as she patted down her back pockets, making sure her riggs were there before digging in to grab the box.

It was squashed from having been sat on all night, but one cigarette managed to survive the weight of her ass pressing down on it.

She lit it, inhaled and looked up at the sky.

Grinning, she scrunched her nose and spoke up at the wide, blue obscurity.

"I'm still living, Will."

...

* * *

**rambly author's note to follow in a few days' time ;)**

**peace.  
**


	28. Obligatory AN, inubyvkdkldubn!

(Yes, I did post this twice because I'm insane and have lost all ability to properly write a simple sentence. Excuse this weird...thing. and good luck understanding it lol)

Wow, I don't really know where to start. I've probably deleted the beginning of this at least ten times.

This idea came to me after I had a conversation with a good friend who did graffiti. He is an inspiring individual and he may never know how much he has pushed me to do my own thing. He is the reason this story exists. (Aw, cheese)

Anywaaay.

It was incredibly daunting posting EVERY chapter, never mind the first one. Being a very young writer amongst many that are older, smarter and more experienced can be a bit of a head fuck. But I do have a tendency to close my eyes, block my ears and go. That strategy became very useful.

Somehow this garnered attention anyway. I don't know how you guys can sit through this load of crap.

Just kidding. (trololololol)

But for real, I wasn't lying at the beginning when I said I hadn't written ANYTHING in my life (except for some really bad song lyrics at the age of 12) and the fact anyone thought that this was worthy of any reviews is mind bending for me.

I'm not gonna go on about how flabbergasted I am, because that is very boring. So yeah…

Massive thanks to each person that ever alerted or added this thing to their favourites. Like, I wish I could personally hug each one of you.

I bow down to each person that's ever read even a word of this. Even if you read the first chapter and thought it sucked. It was still trying it out, so thanks. (though that would probably mean you're not reading this too. Feel the good vibe then. FEEL IT.)

To all who reviewed - even just to leave a tiny word of encouragement: you're fucking awesome and I think we should have a moment.

**This moment.**

**This moment _right here_****.**

That was our moment.

I hope it was as brilliant for you as it was for me.

While writing this, I was introduced to a sweet group of people on twitter.

Y'all are fucking delightful - even those that I don't really interact with (because I can probably win an award for shyness, even on the internet.)

But thank you to those that enjoy and encourage my insane (and sometimes ridiculously stupid :D) cartoons, even if they do sometimes come from being a freak during everyday life. Thank you being an encouraging bunch. Thank you for including me in The Game. Thank you for sharing some pretty amazing art. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't say it enough because some of you have inspired me more than you probably realise. And this is very important for a young mind that is still trying to build itself from the ground up :P

I promised myself that I would finish this story before the day of this month that I celebrate being ejected into Montréal by the mothership (aka the birth of an incredibly odd little human named B), because I plan to be very drunk for a very long time. If I waited, I knew that my brain would be too tired to do anything other than do nothing. Yeah.

I did finish it.

BUT…

BUT…THIS ISN'T THE END. (dramatic music)

Because I still have extra memories to post (some that weren't used, but can still fit into the storyline) as well as little chapters from Will's perspective and even Emily's perspective. AND random trips I wrote for them for the hell of it.

YES!

(let's slip another thanks to everyone in)

Peace.


	29. Memory 1

**So it begins. Here is a memory that takes place some time after Will's birthday party (as mentioned below), where Naomi and Emily are still on good terms in the early stages of their ~blossoming friendship~. I know I hinted a few times throughout the story the difference between their social classes or whatever, Naomi being on the lower half of the middle class spectrum and Emily significantly higher up. I think I mainly wrote part of this to showcase that, but at the time I felt it wasn't as important as whatever other memory I replaced it with, I guess. **

**I hope you enjoy this extra. :D**

**love, love, love to you all!**

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"Oh my god…I feel like I can't move." Naomi slurred as she sat on a couch in Will's basement. She'd been in that spot for the past hour and a half. All she knew was that she was sunken into the couch and Will was lying on the floor, both of them just blankly staring up at the ceiling.

Smoking too much can do that to a person.

Her head drooped down and her chin rested on her chest as she mumbled "Will, I'm gonna fucking kill you."

He hummed a laugh in response, too lazy to open his mouth properly.

Her stomach was doing some weird shit. It felt like it wasn't actually attached to her, but sitting on top of her abdomen. She looked up slightly from her head's bowed position to make sure that wasn't the case. Catching sight of the TV, she focused all of her attention on it.

The room was silent. Television not even playing, but she continued to gaze at it, wide-eyed.

"Naomi…" she heard from the floor. Her response came in the form of a drawn out grunt. "The TV is so cool…"

She agreed, but she couldn't answer Will; too busy watching them both being reflected on the screen.

"We're on it!" Will exclaimed and started to laugh. This reaction triggered the same thing in Naomi. They went from quiet giggling to full blown guffaws, to the point where they both struggled to breathe and were left wheezing through their clenching throats.

Their fun was cut short though.

"Will?" They heard from upstairs, unsure tone of voice drifting from the top floor and down into the basement. One of the stairs creaked from someone's weight coming down on it.

"Shit!" said Will, whilst scrambling to his feet. Seconds later, he finally managed to get his legs to stand still on the ground that had been shifting and making him fall. "You have to go, Nai."

"But why?" she drawled

"Mum's home."

This caused her to shoot up from the couch. Well, since her body wasn't properly responding, it really caused her to move slightly forward then tip and fall flat on her face.

"Come on, Naomi."

She was lifted up and pushed against a wall. A cold gust of wind swept over her and she shivered. "Where is that coming from?" she asked, confused and cold. Her eyelids were drooping; she was ready to pass out.

"It's coming from outside, where you're about to be." Will hoisted her up and pushed the first half of her body through a window. She laughed as she hung halfway out of the house. Will joined her because of the absurdity. He gave her one last hard push and she fell into a flowerbed. Some other things were thrown out with her. She squinted her eyes and saw her phone, pack, a bag of chips, water and finally, a skateboard sitting beside her. She reached out for her phone and flipped it open, unsure of what she wanted to do. She stared at the time glowing brightly, making her squint. A lazy smile spread itself across her face. Her nose twitched as she sucked in a breath and smelt the flowers around her. She turned her head to get a better sniff and ended up with grass in her nose. She breathed out violently in an attempt to get it out. It worked, but she still felt its tickle irritating the area. She made a few stupid faces to get rid of it, then she lay there just staring at whatever caught her attention.

She talked herself into getting up. First she was on her knees and she leaned forward, breathing hard, because standing at the moment was entirely too difficult. She cleared her throat and pushed herself upwards, swaying and gliding to the left as her feet tripped out of the patch of plants to keep her standing. A woman passing gave her a dirty look and she just smiled in return before turning around and stuffing all of the tiny objects, excluding her phone, into her bag. Half of her body weighted more than the other due to the pack now hanging off one shoulder. She lazily kicked the skateboard about on the grass until it rolled onto the concrete of the sidewalk. "Yeah." she said to the object while she pulled her pack of cigarettes out and lit up. She held the rigg between her lips as she stepped onto the grip of the board and pushed with her other foot.

The wheels only rolled a few inches due to her inability to kick her foot out properly because she couldn't see straight. She chuckled to herself and kept trying until she successfully propelled herself into a fluid roll down the street. Her path was just rolling straight ahead, not even paying attention to where she would end up. Legs pushed like clockwork, so used to just getting somewhere without knowing the destination while her brain was distracted by just about everything.

She noticed the houses getting more and more ugly as she went along the street.

"I must be in...the hood." she said under her breath.

Sure enough, she came to a stretch of roads that was home to a series of houses that looked like they hadn't been lived in for ages.

She saw someone stumble out of one, talking incoherently and turning towards the door they had just exited from. Rolling past him, she giggled and secretly hoped she would roll on out of the area as soon as possible.

Montreal was a funny place in terms of its living areas. You could have the cheapest, dirtiest houses on one side of the road, but if you were to walk a few yards in the right direction, you could find yourself stranded in one of the richest neighbourhoods in the city.

Naomi had forgotten about this, so when she inadvertently crossed the line between rich and poor, the elevated state of her brain allowed her to be completely amazed at the change.

She laughed.

Then, seconds later, she realised that if she kept going, she would be right in front of Emily's house. Near Mount Royal, as she remembered.

Eyes squinting and legs aching, she coasted down the street and overtook a bus that had halted at a stop. She was building speed, her foot twitched on the grip of the board, rubbing back and forth to get ready to make the tiniest jump onto the sidewalk.

She kicked it off the ground, her heart rate increased for that split second of uncertainty you always had before the board hits the ground again. The landing was a bit unsteady, but she recovered and kept going.

Suddenly, she moved one of her feet back and tipped the board to come to an abrupt stop. The board flew up and she was left stumbling forward, her legs taking large steps to try and stop from her falling onto her face.

When she was stood upright again, she turned around and picked up her board.

She walked across the street, not really knowing what she was trying to pull by just standing in front of Emily's house like a creep. She looked at it in all its glory. Not the biggest house on the block, but still really, really nice. And expensive. Probably really expensive.

She wondered how much weed she'd be able to buy if she sold the house.

Teeth pulled on her bottom lip in contemplation. As if her legs were still working on their own, they moved her forward and she found herself walking up a tiny path that was between two large hedges. She stopped halfway, feeling stupid, before shaking off the feeling.

"Hmmm…" she hummed to herself as she tried to figure out what her next plan of action should be. She spotted a snail on one of the hedge's leaves and she moved her face closer to it. She blew on its front, making the eyes or tentacles - whatever the fuck they were - curl into the snail's body to fight against the irritating gust of wind. Seconds later, they weird parts of its body re-emerged and she was delighted. It moved away slowly from its attacker and Naomi watched it go. When it disappeared, she looked around and wondered how long she'd been standing in the bushes. It was probably about ten minutes, but her altered mind made her think it was at least thirty.

Finally, she decided that this was stupid and she began marching off the property. The second she emerged from the jungle, she was greeted with a gratuitous amount of skin. She couldn't figure out what it was, exactly, so she kept staring.

"You fucking pervert, quit staring at my tits."

Naomi's head shot up to greet Katie properly.

"My mum wanted me to come find out who the freak in our garden was."

"Oh…"

"You're completely fucking gone, aren't you?"

"Uh…"

"Can you do anything other than grunt at me like a caveman?"

"Yeah…"

Katie rolled her eyes and Naomi grinned at her. The redhead huffed and said, "I'll be right back."

Naomi watched her go and waited for her to return.

She heard the door close and looked to find Emily coming down the steps. "What are you doing here?" she asked, stepping closer to the blonde.

Naomi shrugged, suddenly becoming mute

Emily arched her brow, waiting for a response.

Naomi sighed and said, "I was…in the neighbourhood."

Emily snorted and crossed her arms, smiling. "Or did you just want to see my beautiful face?"

"Yes, that's exactly it." Naomi smirked. The smile lingered longer than it should have, like a ghost.

"How did you even remember where I lived? The last time you were here was when you had to walk me home from your house the morning after some dude's birthday party…You were still fucking drunk."

"I have an elephant the size of a memory…" the blonde scrunched her brow, "I mean…I have a memory as big as an elephant…" she concentrated, "No…I have…"

"A memory _like _an elephant?" Emily finished, clearly holding back her laughter at Naomi's inability to speak.

"Yeah, that."

A moment passed, then Emily asked "Do you want to come inside?"

"Okay."

Naomi trailed Emily through the front door and down a hallway. The redhead spun around abruptly, "Shit, my mum's back in the kitchen and we have to go through there to get upstairs. Act normal. And not like you're off your face, okay?"

"Haven't I been doing that already?"

Emily sucked her lips in, looking sceptical and shaking her head back and forth.

They walked into the kitchen together, Emily greeting her mum in passing and Naomi looking strangely fidgety as she tried to discreetly rush for the stairs while almost walking on Emily's heels. She strolled by the elder Fitch, and to make herself seem absolutely normal, she raised her hand as she reached the first step and said, "Heeeeeeeey!" enthusiastically while her mouth accidentally stretched into a lazy, goofy smile. She heard rather than saw Emily's hand make contact with her forehead in response to Naomi's stupidity.

She was pulled up the stairs before Emily's mum was even able to answer.

Emily sat her down on the bed and turned to her, "Was that really necessary? You should have kept your mouth closed, you sounded completely fucked!"

Naomi could only let out a loud laugh.

"Sh!" Emily scolded her, and pushed her onto her back. The redhead moved away and then sat beside the wasted blonde, "You're ridiculous."

Naomi looked at her. The smaller girl was smiling at her fondly.

She smiled back and then her attention was averted to the window at the other side of the bed. She arched her neck as far as it could go, the back of her head digging into the mattress. Blue eyes stared hard at the upside down window. Her mouth hung open in awe.

She felt Emily's finger push on her chin to close her mouth. After its goal was completed, it did not move. Instead, it trailed a path down the blonde's neck, pausing only to move the collar of Naomi's shirt out of the way. It glided across the one of the blonde's shoulders, then back towards her clavicle.

Naomi eyes had fallen closed and she breathed out slowly, "You are clearly taking advantage of a poor, mashed girl. This is entirely inappropriate and illegal."

"It doesn't seem like you mind too much." the finger drifted up to her face and rested against her bottom lip.

In an instant, they were gone and she was given an infuriating, hard tap on her cheek, completely waking her from her hypnosis.

"What the hell?"

"Can't have you falling asleep here, can I?" Emily smirked at her and grabbed a pillow to cover Naomi's face.

"You suck." Naomi's voice was muffled through the thick, fluffy material.

Emily lifted the pillow and slapped it against the blonde's face repeatedly.

Naomi flailed, "Fuck, Emily, you're a little shit disturber, aren't you?"

"Yep."

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**AND THAT IS THE FIRST ONE DOWN.**

**PEACE.**

**(also, thank all y'all readers for errthang)**


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